Honest Beginnings
by Polymath
Summary: The multverse is in danger. As universes begin to be swallowed up and destroyed, Dime, the son of Death the Endless, must investigate and stop this catastrophe from destroying everything. He must hire Dante in this one of a kind tale
1. Honest Beginnings

Disclaimer: I do not own Sandman nor the Devil May Cry series.

Chapter One

There are different beginnings, starting from one spark of an idea, a thought, a simple and yet powerful spark that spreads out into many branches. It is the seed that grows into massive trees, each branch spreading upward to unknown reaches or spreads and breaks apart falling endlessly towards an abyss where there is only wishful thinking and regret. Many lives are written down in the book, many worlds that have been created or thought have their stories written down from beginning to end. It is even said many of the universes, infinite in number and continuously grows also have a past, a present and future. The past shows upcoming, trials and tribulations that all experience; the future shows the revelations that will happen, life or death are more than just past and present concepts. They show many things to all sentient and non-sentient. Such is the book of the destiny; such is the many answers that are kept in the large, dust ridden book that Destiny of the Endless carries.

His walk is slow, pacing, making turns into the garden where different paths branches off. There is no path he can remember off hand; omnipotent of destiny he may be, destiny changes constantly for it grows and expands towards infinitum. His robe stretches behind him creating a brown and dusty train that trails ever slightly behind. One has speculated that Destiny has this robe as a symbol of how Destiny cannot turn about and change its course. The train itself is the afterthoughts of past destinies, past paths that many sentient and non-sentient beings thought and would've, should've, could've took. Was it regret? Possibly it was regret lingering within the train of Destiny's robe. But even if it wasn't regret, perhaps it was blame, or shame, or deep accusations among one or even the small feeling of relief, they remain as small little fragments, dust that carries behind Destiny. One could've questioned how he saw the man standing in the garden as many have said that Destiny could not see.

There, at the path which made a crossroad to three separate paths, stood a man, leaning against the brush of the garden itself his arms folded and his head down as if he had fallen into a quick slumber. Destiny raised his head, the hood of his robe shadowing over his blind eyes. He did not speak nor did he make a sound that would alert the man on the path. The man slowly opens his eyes and turned his head to Destiny's position. The man had dark skin no darker than a casual brown that resembled the color of cocoa. His hair were locked together into small micro braids but was tied back in a ponytail. He loosely wore a collared shirt with a red tank top and athletic pants. It was clearly not the wear of those who enter the garden yet Destiny did not speak upon the matter for it was miniscule at that point. The man had a casual smile on his lips, his eyes not so much eager to see Destiny but had a familiar glint that one could associate a man looking at art not for its price but for its sheer and utter beauty. The man leaned off from the bush and came to Destiny. He was much shorter than Destiny who is among the tallest of the Endless. He only reached to his chest in height. There, standing right in front of the personification itself, they spoke. It was telepathic at first; the nature of which the conversation was going would've been unreadable due to the emotionless expression of Destiny and the continuous, jovial smile of the unknown man. Finally, after a small pause, which seem like a minute in infinity, the man spoke. "Times are definitely changing. Almost as if something was going to happen."

Destiny remained silent but nodded his head so slightly that it couldn't even be considered a nod at all. The man continued "Something is amidst; I can feel it in my bones old man."

"You're too young to feel anything of that sort in your body." Destiny said plainly. Whether it was meant to be a joke or meant to be serious in nature, the man chuckled regardless and nodded his head.

"You're right about that old man. I am a bit too young to even say such a phrase. Yet I doubt you can dismiss that former statement that something is amidst among the worlds," he paused then stretched his hand out towards the garden "towards the universes and dimensions. You may hide your expression, almost unreadable among the Endless but you saw what was in that book of yours. It shows you the future of many of the same occurrence and yet," he paused again, this time for the dramatic effect of it "you wander among the garden seeking out an answer."

"There are many answers to the same question." Destiny spoke, this time walking with no notion for the man to follow but the man did follow anyway. He knew that Destiny wanted to walk, more so is prone to walk in the garden "Though what you speak of is true. My mind has been pondering upon this event; the event that you speak of that you will be involved almost directly."

"What do you read, old man, of the outcome of it all." Destiny did not answer because he knew he could not answer the question nor did he have any right to answer his question. "I'll answer for you old man. You see emptiness right? The speech that is void of words, ears that will hear nothing the cold and outright darkness and eyes that will be blinded by nothingness." Destiny did not reply but the man was satisfied with the silent. He smiled at this "It's amazing really that I'm actually smiling for an outcome that could potentially destroy everything. How can one even imagine seeing absolutely nothing? It would be like that of the beginning, the time where you were your youngest and everything was nothing more than just emptiness. What's different about future emptiness and the beginning emptiness was that there was something to break free of that void. One may call that your greatest accomplishment just being there to inspire that first few seconds of destiny. Now it seems that everything that sparked forth life is here to take it away. You wander because you search for the answer. There are many but there is one answer that remains hidden from you, uncle."

There was a moment that the man saw Destiny's eyes waver in his hood. The man could not help but have a moment where there was despair in his heart for he and Destiny felt the words slip into thought and was now settling in their minds casually eating away. What made the two of them different was that the man could ignore this feeling altogether and smile. The moment faded within the man but not with Destiny. Instead he spoke, his quick statements almost seem to go on forever, in a low whisper "You realize that if this happens-"

"Of course." The man shrugged "It's not like I didn't think that it wouldn't happen. Naiveté is not my forte uncle. Though I am surprised, one such as you, as one of the Endless, caring about life. Call upon my ignorance but I thought you had the same stance as the rest of the Endless."

"What is Death without the concept of giving and taking life? What is Despair without the concept of hopelessness that can inspire hope? What is Delirium without madness and chaos? What is Dream without the concept of giving of ideas, inspiring for some and horrific for others? What is Destruction without the concept of ending something but beginning another thing anew? What is Desire without the concept of longing for one or many things? What is Destiny without the concept of having choice?"

The man had a pondering look upon him and then nodded understanding the meaning behind his words and answered "Without this, The Endless would fade away into nothingness and all things that you guys personify will be gone," he had a hand run into his long strands of dreadlocks and scratched the surface of his skull itching a non-existent itch "I suppose that would mean no more babbling between Desire and whoever she victimize, no more travelling to the dimension of dream where I can annoy Matthew and no picnics with lovely and beautiful women." He chuckled at that last statement. He knew Destiny wouldn't join him on the joke; he was rather stoic and monotone of a person who rarely jokes if he even jokes at all. "Kind of sucks to be you then. You just stand here and watch-err rather walk and see this happen. Everyone else has their duties to attend."

He points to himself "Then there is me. The odd one out; the one who you can't even consider human or a personification of anything. I'm just that third wheel in the equation right?" He held a hand out knowing full well Destiny would remain silent "Don't answer, I already know what it will be." He exaggerated a frown that Destiny has been giving the man since the beginning of this conversation. "I already have the feeling that none of us will be leaving this problem unscathed. Hell, I have a feeling that I'm going to feel a slight tinge of death a few times here or there but that's my nature."

"I know" Destiny said, his voice had a bit of waver seemingly showing that this was painful indeed. It did not matter how his omnipotence over destiny was, all power was no power if a threat could ultimately end him and the rest of the Endless. "Are you afraid?" Destiny asked, his voice returning to its stoic and serious voice.

The man put a hand on his chin thoughtfully before speaking to Destiny "It's like a race uncle. I'm at the starting line and I have the best runners surrounding me. There is that excitement, that Holy-shit-what-the-hell-am-I-doing-butterfly-in-my-stomach sensation that nearly all racers get before going into the fray. It's that unknown apart that I'm worried about because I have no idea what's going to happen. I can predict it sure, anyone who has half a brain can predict what may happen but like destiny it can change immensely. One small decision can change the entire course of the outcome."

"There are two outcomes you can choose in this case."

The man nodded slowly "It's just a matter of which one I choose in the end right? Hell, it may not even be me to make the decision. I'm just as blind as you right now." He nudged Destiny in the arm. Destiny expression remained changeless and the man smiled "You know, I can never really say that you are my favorite relative. But you are a good person to talk to."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

In front of Destiny and the man there was rift in the space, warping inward on itself before it open completely. Bright light peered out of the small oval shape door before it dimmed slightly. The man takes a step into the rift and waved at Destiny "This is going to be a crazy party uncle."

The man had disappeared into the white light of the portal then it closed shut in front of Destiny. There it was again, that ominous shadow lurking in Destiny's mind that made him think about the events. He knew that if he open the book of destiny to where it was that the man spoke of, all of it would have been recorded, right down to the point of Destiny opening the book and having a worried look on his face. But he opened it anyway. He continued walking in the garden making a left, then a right, then another, then right ad infinitum. He read in the book, reading every single word that began to shape in his book. The story was beginning and he could feel a harsh storm coming.

* * *

><p>I had a good talk with Uncle Destiny, that old fart doesn't have to give me answers in order for me to find what I came there. He's more of a living and breathing consciousness in which I can visualize in person, externally if you will. It was downright good to talk to him rather than anyone else of the Endless. I had a feeling I knew the answers from most of them. Dream- Daniel-well, Dream would have given me a concrete answer rather than an avoidant type answer. With an answer that is concrete, it gives me a sense of doubt. Who's to say that the outcome would've gone his way rather than mine? Perhaps his answer would've been the correct one and to be honest, I find people who are almost if not always right to be annoying. They are pestering flies that keep biting at you and there is nothing you can honesty do about it. No, Dream was one of the options but Destiny himself was the better of the two. Delirium was completely out of the picture, no sense trying to find an answer out of pure madness. Despair? I can imagine her giving me one but her realm has been-closed off for lack of a better word and Desire? Oh please, asking it if the sky was blue was hard enough, getting a straight answer from it was more or less painful than conclusive.<p>

Then there is mother. Death I mean. I suppose I could've told her and she would've given me more of an answer similar to Uncle Destiny but knowing her way of thinking, knowing how she responds to what I was going to say made me want to avoid her the most. I didn't want to see her eye to eye, her eyes seem to be endless among the rest of the Endless. Redundancy is redundant I know but in this case it is true. Mom always knew how to look at me when I was going to go on my crazy antics. Like any other mother would to a son, she would look at me and cock her head slightly only to give me a reproachful look of 'Are you mad or are you stupid' expression. Yes, she knew all of my buttons and I knew all of hers and it would've been more of an argument than a son to mother talk. I think that's all mothers and sons do for the most part but I could be making an assumption of it all. For all the sons out there that has a good relationship with their mothers and don't have overwhelming arguments about the universe and life and death or how coffee with cream is ten times better than coffee straight then I apologize.

A mile a minute, that's what it seems to me at this point. I look over the edge of the boat that carries me through the in-between. I could see the endless material that almost looks like actual water. I haven't given the water a name yet. It's rather difficult to come up with names out of the blue. I've always called it water and I suppose that is the logical thing to conclude with. Within that water-like substance are an endless amounts of lights that sparkle and glisten no different than stars. Above me was the entirety of the universes darkness and lights overcastting me with an almost overwhelming light show.

It was like being in a sea that was always night, always cloudless and always gleaming with stars. You could see the lights glisten and sparkle as you traversed the realms of the in-between. I feel I have time to speak on the matters ahead; I don't usually go into depth on my situation only because I see no reason to go into detail but being on a ship by myself without anyone to talk to gets almost mind numbingly boring. It gets taxing to speak about these matters but I don't much of a choice seeing that it will pass the time. Destiny will be reading this anyway and telling him my life story would be a good and nice chapter in that big book of his.

I suppose the question of who I am might come up and around. I don't blame anyone asking who I am. You can probably guess it by now but I'm not the personification of anything. I don't represent fate or life and death or dreams or delirium or destruction or anyone else. I suppose if anyone could guess who I am; I would be more in the category of what my cousin Orpheus would be, no more Endless than a liger is more of a lion than a tiger. Did that answer any questions? No, I'm not even satisfied with that answer itself and I suppose it would be better for me to explain and be a bit more elaborate.

I am the son of Death. Yes, Death, the person that carries a soul to the afterlife is my mother. If there was a peanut gallery, I would have been able to feel their eyes roll in the back of skulls humoring me as I say such a statement out loud. It almost sounds humorous, more so laughable knowing that I said that I am the son of Death. I would laugh along with you on it too, I have a eccentric sense of humor but I would say again that yes, I am the son of Death, the women that many sentient and non-sentient beings either loathe or worship. Of course there is the middle ground, the people who are apathetic towards her or someone who absolutely adores them-not exactly worship; I've actually seen cultures on different worlds that have giant statues of her. I think there was a planet that inhabitant, of insect origin, to have massive orgies on a certain day similar to what one culture prefers as the day of the dead. They celebrate it a bit more-extravagantly than others. It's mildly amusing just hearing it but I can imagine that my mother rolled her eyes on that certain logic. It's not like she enjoys those types of things-at least, that's what I know.

Ah mother. Death is her title, her name, her personification. She's a beautiful thing, nothing that I couldn't admit as a son who appreciates the life given by someone who is there when life is gone. It almost seems contradictive for one such as my mother to bring life into this crazy universe. But then, you have to think that she is there when beings are born. They don't remember her being there as she holds the little babe in her hands but she is there and she can account for her presence by whispering little things that you'll quite not get until you're about two or three.

Do I remember my encounter with my mother when I was born? Would it surprise you to say that I did, at one time in my life? I would think that being born is more of a hassle and a traumatic experience as you leave the warmth of the womb into the world outside. But I do have some memory of it and I can honesty report that it isn't that bad. Yeah, the warmth is gone but there is so much more room outside than there was inside. I remember her taking me into her arms, her thin self holding a tiny little fragment of her into her arms and cradling me. I remember looking into her eyes; they were as black as the universe on a calm day with infinite among infinite amount of stars in the background. I wondered what she saw in mine. She did smile at me, almost a cartoon grin that could've scared anyone at that moment in time. But I suppose there is a primal sense of a child knowing that this person holding me, nursing me, carrying me was their mother. I knew it the instant I saw her that this was my mother holding me with as much love and passion that a mother could for a child.

It seemed that I was born turning the time where my mother was in one of those transitional periods in her life-err existence. She told me how she was cold during those times and death back then seemed more of a harsh reality than a blessing. To some it still is a harsh reality of knowing that she would be there with her hand out waiting for you to grab hold so that you go to the afterlife.

It is getting a bit weird explaining the sensation and I don't want to make one feel as though they are about to read a person who has a Oedipus complex. Believe me, I don't have that type of problem. I'm not in love with my own mother. Eessh, that just made me shiver just thinking it. I think the definition also is that I would have to be jealous of my father because of it. I never knew who he was. I never asked mom who he was or what type of person he had been or whether or not he was human or not. This I find odd to me. If you knew about me, I could tell you flat out that I was a curious person. My curiosity had gotten me in trouble with my mother many times. Oh the stories I could go on with the misadventures of my curious nature. It would surprise you re I've also gotten in trouble with my uncles and aunts, mainly Uncle Morpheus. He was my favorite uncle right beside Uncle Destruction-that guy's sense of humor and the amount of dirty jokes he had in his arsenal of jokes could not compare to anyone to this day-that I would hang around for the time being. My mother would send me out and I being a good little boy scout would heed her words. More so the beginning years of my life ended with up blown up dimensions, dreams created into nightmares and a few worlds that have been carelessly-and accidental I promise you-destroyed by yours truly.

I have fixed the errors of my ways…somewhat. I still have a tendency of creating and destroying when I'm trying to do a task. But it's very few! I mean it ever so in this case.

My father must've been one hell of a fool or one hell of a lover to my mother. You could talk to her-which you could if you either a. dead (obviously) b. one of the Endless c. associate with one of the Endless. d. a god or goddess e. other. I put my father or perhaps some personification that is my father in the other category. It is a law, almost a forbidding one for one of the personifications to fall in love with any mortal for it is said that it would be their downfall. I know of my Uncle Morpheus and how he fell in love with a queen and how was sent to hell for the sake of not returning her love back to him. Seems cruel but I have to say, she kind of had it coming knowing that she was playing with fire.

For my father I have no idea what became of him. He must've been charming bastard. No, I don't mean charming as in "Oh boy he has skills" charming, I mean the type of charm that makes goddess weep in their sleep dreaming of this guy type of charming. My mother doesn't come off as someone who could go past the point of 'being more than friends'. She's more in the 'we'll always be friends' category and it was left like that. My father had to either push that boundary farther than he ever expected or mom just decided to be a hussy, which I sincerely doubt. I came to one conclusion, really the only conclusion out there, that he was just one guy who caught my mother's eye. He would have to be impressive in order to change the viewpoint of one who once thought of her job as menial and a burden towards it being jovial.

If you can say that it is impossible for the personifications to fall in love or to die then you haven't heard about Morpheus for he was one of the few Endless who did such an act and broke the rules. I think the only people I know who uphold this law would be Destiny-though I doubt anyone would lust after him, he smells legitimately like an old ass library that hasn't been dusted in millennia, Delirium-in honesty I've heard people fall in love with her but she could never return such love either because her attention span couldn't grasp that concept or she didn't care for such person and then there is Despair…I again shudder if anyone really lusted for her. If they did then well-I…

Anyway, I've only derailed the situation out because I feel as though many people don't even know me. Hell, many people don't even know my name. In honesty, I prefer to be nameless for the sheer fact that I hate having to think up a name. Whenever I do go into a world when they do ask I usually respond with the title of Dime. It's weird name but it actually has meaning behind it. I kept the name when I was only three years old. My mother was one of those mothers that would readily agree with the name change and thought that it was cute at first. Now she says it as if it _is_ my real name and I can't differentiate between my real name and the name I given myself.

I trail off a bit in the in-between waters, grabbing the bottom part of the sails and directly the boat towards the right. I could feel the hard turning of it all and I was force to stand in order to keep my balance and not shift too much. Doing that would cause me to lose balance and me overboard in that watery-like substance. I shifted and I turned the sail back to its normal position where it set itself forward and at a calm movement. I sat back down and laid my head on the bowel of the ship. I glare up at the forever night sky and I could see that there were a group of stars that almost seem to flicker in the sky. They were there and I could honest to God say that they seem to be sending an S.O.S signal. They were blinking rapidly, in furious fades and shines that went in and out of view. Finally, the stars seem to settle and the light that gleamed off them seem to fade.

But they are not stars. They were universes; all of them supporting different beings that were both alien in nature and intricate in design. What was scary about it was that at least one of those universes had faded away into nothingness. What happen to that universe I wondered that made it die in an instant? All that life, trillions among trillions of life forms just outright disappearing right in front of me. My mother had to be there watching all of this happen. She was omnipresent whenever there is life and death.

They were all in danger. Every universe among the infinite was in danger of being destroyed-rather eaten alive by someone or, god forbid something massive.

I've been pinpointing this for a long time. After the death of Morpheus things began to change almost instantly after that. There seems to be a disturbance in the force one character from a famous movie had said to the over so worried apprentice. Well, that's exactly the feeling that I was getting after his death.

I do not posses any powerful, nay omnipotent form of a personification like my mother and aunts and uncles have. I've said I am no personification of anything. Instead I have the set of skills that make me rather talented in different ways that aids The Endless. One being that I'm not bounded by ancient laws. I can do whatever I please to do. I can travel where I want, when I want and I have the power to do so. My cousin Orpheus didn't have that ability nor did my other Endless-like cousins but I do. I suppose it makes me a valuable asset to the group knowing that I'm completely unbounded by such.

They say it's something of a blessing and a curse and I say that's pretty true. I've been more of the Endless's errand boy for the most part. I've done a lot of work for all seven of the Endless and I have to say that some of it is a blessing while many of it is literally pain to deal with. I could go on about the subject but it gets depressing and let's say that I'll probably go on about it later if I have the time.

At this point I'm thinking about which universe I could travel into first. I look up again at the starry universes and I saw some of them of the blinking slowly on and off, on and off. I bite the edge of my lips and make a sound with my mouth showing my annoyance of it all. It's not going to be easy to find which dimension to go to first. It wouldn't be wise to go into a dying universe because it was far too late for me to even stop the situation.

That's the tricky part. All of them were in danger. It was just a matter of finding one that wasn't so much in danger that the universe would be lost to him. The trouble of it all was luck. Knowing mine, I have a fifty-fifty chance. One side of it being that it would be at a point of no return and the other side being one that may be half at a point of no return.

This is not going to end well.

* * *

><p>Dante stood at the steps of his shop, well once technically open technically close shop, and looked at the rubble of it once more. It was getting fixed up, Dante was preparing himself to fix it all back again once he had enough money to reconstruct the neon lights, the entrance way, the room in which he had his desk, his pool table, his jukebox, hell even his bathroom he would've all fixed up. Now-now Dante was gritty his teeth, his right eye twitched and his hand was in a fist. This was getting quite irritating, quite agitating, quite a party killer if you asked him frankly. He would've been blunt about saying how much of this was a pisser and a shitter.<p>

"What. In. The. Hell. Happen. To. My. Shop?" He spoke ever word individually to no one in particular. There wasn't anyone on the street to hear Dante's voice. It was a good thing too, he was tempted to throw pieces of rubble randomly hoping it would crash into something.

But it wouldn't relieve his problem. It was a damn shame all right and right now he was seeing his shop totally dismantled as it was in the process of getting reconstructed. He walked up another step where he was able to examine the amount of damage to the entrance. There was no way of getting inside without tearing up more of his establishment. It would be better to just investigate. He could see that the concrete, or mortar, whatever the held up the shop wasn't of that of a car running into his entrance and driving off nor was it some sort of freak of nature accident that many insurance companies would try to hold back money because it was so rare. No, the brick itself had been cut with precision. It was a clean strike through with a very hot blade. There was maybe an inch or two that melted rather disappeared the instant the blade swiped through it.

He had improved a bit on his investigation skills, taking a back of looking at it through all directions rather than caring little for what clues had to offer. It was the trade that shaped him better as an investigator; sometimes the people who hired him didn't want muscle but actually detective work before the murder of demons. Well, it could be worse he thought.

He turned his head viewing what were three figures standing maybe twenty feet away from steps. They were breathing hard, hard enough for Dante to see the fog coming out from their hoods. That made him question how cold it was today until he realized that it was the middle of summer.

"I don't even have to say the words. All I have to do is think it. I wonder if I think if a dozen sexy women came from the sky and glamour me with their hotness

In their hands they held long, black katanas that were half the size of their bodies. Dante estimated that they were at least a foot taller than he was and those blades didn't look like they were featherweights. His eyes caught glint of one of the blades shining. The streetlights were out thanks to Dante antics a few days back and it was just a crescent moon out.

"It's never something I want." He folds his hands together then stretches them outwards making all the joints in his hands crack. He then flicked his nose with his thumb and began to bounce on his toes like he seen Bruce Lee in The Way of the Dragon. "All right, which one of you wrecked my shop? I swear if it was douchebag number 1," He points to the one dead center of the three "then you're gonna have to pay." God, why did that sound so lame? Probably because it was lame but for some reason, perhaps some inexplicable reason that causes his words, regardless of what is said is spoken, he can make it sound entirely cool.

God he loved this life.

The creature in the middle lunged out at Dante moving with unseen speed. The creature in the hood first appeared in his vision then disappeared then reappeared then disappeared. Dante could say that it was moving only in a straight line and not making jukes to reach him. Dante's hand grabbed hold of Rebellion and unsheathed it to block the incoming blade that would've undoubtedly cut into his chest. The cling of the blades, the sound it made ringed in Dante's ear. The metal from each blade began to rub against each other causing both blades on the particular spots they made contact with turn into a burning red.

Dante push kicked the creature straight in the gut, or what felt like the gut, of the creature. It went off its feet and flew twenty yards from him. The two other creatures made their way forward performing the same technique of moving forward flashing in and out of sight. Dante had the feeling that taking three on with this amount of speed would put him in a tight fit and all this open space would be their playground. He would have to take this party somewhere else.

The two creatures blade met what remained of the door to the shop. The two of them looked up and saw Dante high in the air flipping and made a gesture with his hands telling them to follow him. The three of them did so leaping into the air to meet their target. Follow the leader Dante thought as he landed on one of the building's rooftops. He turned just to see the three hooded creatures come raining down on his location. Dante tucked and rolled out just one second away meeting the sharp end of the leader's blade. His hands were in his jacket and as he came up from the roll, he pulled out both Ebony and Ivory aiming them at the three. The guns let out hot sparks and lead trailed toward the three.

These creatures were not fools nor did they seem like they were young and inspiring assassins. Their movement seemed dance-like almost like viewing what a ballerina would do during a performance. The bullets were perfect as to where their marks were intending to go but the three moved with accurate precision. The synchronization of three went with two moving on bottom while the one, the leader, was in mid-air. Dante's attention went to the first two flashing in and out in a curving manner. The two on the ground were rounding about aiming theirs blades at Dante's upper ribs while the one in mid-air would do the finishing blow. Dante took notice how they were flashing in and out of existence more now that they were coming in at a curve rather than a straight light. It almost disoriented him at first,

Two words formed in Dante's head: Hell no. If he was thinking this out correctly he knew that these things were having a hard time moving at him as such. When the two on the ground got close and went to stab at him, Dante bent his back down, matrix style, dodging the two blades that would've struck him otherwise. The blades crossed scratching creating the screech sound. The one in the air was aiming down regardless of the two failing to connect with Dante's insides. He was in no position to make any dramatic dodging at this point now that the two creatures were above him and he didn't think he would be able to kick the two creatures and flip back to dodge the one coming down.

When all you have is a hammer…

Dante took Ebony and aimed it straight into the leader's head. The bullet met its mark this time. The creature head jolted backward and it let out a dying screech as it fell lifeless to the ground. The two creatures jumped back and let out the same screech as the one coming from the sky made. Dante bridged back quickly then flipped back onto his feet with Ebony and Ivory already aimed at the two hooded creatures. They seem to roar at Dante in that ear ripping screech that made Dante want to put his fingers in his ear. The sound seems to enter straight into his head echoing in every part of his mind. He saw that his vision was beginning to double now viewing four of the hooded creatures. He was on one knee, his arms steadily shaking at the two creatures. The fucking noise he kept thinking God if this sound doesn't stop I may go mad.

Dante began to shoot, more in a drunken stupor than completely reckless, only to stop the noise from reaching deeper in his head "Shut up!" he shouted. A few of the bullets hit one of the creatures right deep into the shoulder and a few bullets into its. It made one last screech before falling over off the edge of the building. The other creature received hits in the chest but it had scampered over and jumped to another building. Dante had his aim on it but the creature had hopped from one to another and it was out of sight.

Dante holstered his weapons back into his jacket. He saw the dead creature, the apparent leader he took it as, laying on its back. He held one hand on his sword cautiously moving to the creature. He looked at it for awhile seeing the black hooded creature just lay motionlessly on the rooftop. He jabbed at it with his boot before concluding that the thing was out. Sorry Charlie, his luck ran out.

He kneeled down. There was a corruptible stench that could've burn the nostril hairs in his nose. The smell was like something that was far past the expiration date. Now mixed with the stench of excrements, it was now a whole new different perfume. He fan a hand over his nose "Showers must not've exist where this guy comes from." It was a few seconds before his nose could even adjust to the stench before he reached a hand over his hood. He hesitated at first not wanting to even touch the thing, whatever it was, on account of the smell getting on his gloves. It would never get out he thought before he said stop being a bitch and pull the hood away from its face.

It had surprisingly human qualities for something that sounded and smelled like a demon. Its face had the appearance of a young man no older than Dante himself. What made it odd was the fact that the pigment in his skin was a radiant violet. It almost seem like someone drew on his face with violet paint and let it dry. Is eyes were wide open in pure shock and his mouth remained agape. There was the bullet wound that entered straight into his frontal lobe and out the other end probably destroying his brain like a pinball bouncing off of the borders turning his brain into jello. He examined his arm which was extremely long and lanky with an usual amount of veins pressing up against its skin. It didn't seem natural to Dante, not a bit.

Could he conclude that the creature was a demon? That was certainly a possibility. Dante had a thing for attracting the odd and dangerous types just by walking down the street just casually-well, living. In most cases, if not all he would've been able to sense the aura of demonic energy radiating off of these things. He wasn't getting that with this creature or the other two that was with it. It was radiating something else, something much fouler than a demon and not from this world. What was it?

He had no idea. He would have to kill more of things in order to get a better idea of what they are. Right now-what did he have planned out now? Damn, what was I on about before I got into this mess with these things?

Ah shit. His thoughts came hauling with the load of his shop totally dismantled and in ruined. He stepped away from the creature and walk over to the edge of the building cocking his head to see his building not fifty yards from the building still in ruin.

All that work he had put into fixing it up from his last bout now hit him hard with his pride and his wallet.

He needed to drink. Drink and eat pizza. It wasn't exactly a good plan. It sounded more of an idea a teenager or college student has when his attention for study was suppressed by the want of carbohydrates. But whenever he was in the gutter and whenever he needed to come up with money or an idea hit him, the bar was a place for them to come to him. He reached into his back pocket hoping to find money in his very thin wallet of his. What a surprise opening to find that he had three dollars spread out among themselves.

"Wouldn't even be enough to get me a slice." He said plainly and placed his wallet into pocket. He shrugged that said fuck it and decided to take up on his own offer. There was bound for the bartender to put it on his tab, the large, seemingly infinite tab he was building up. No harm, no foul as long as he was paying for it…eventually.


	2. Devils and Dimes

Chapter 2- Devils and Dimes

I was going to need help. Yes, I know, I said it aloud. Call the presses folks, old Dime here, the guy who would be the first out of anyone here to have higher pride than Lucifer itself, is now admitting to the world that he needed help.

I'm kidding on the part of having that much pride. I'm not that ashamed to ask for help for something as big as this. I suppose I rather have things done in a solo fashion than having a second or a third party in the mix of it all. But this went without saying that I had to make adjustments to my little solo covert op when I was sailing in the sunless lands of the in-between seeing more and more universes flicker on and off like a light bulb about to die. They were slow flickers however there was a lot of slow flickering with thousands among thousands of universes just doing that same on and off routine like fireflies.

It unsettled my stomach. I felt that bad boy roll in and do somersaults just looking at it all. It was one thing to deal with one universe and try to solve that problem and hope that this problem would be the same problem in all the other universes but it was another for one to assume that this was the case and make a grave mistake into thinking this .

I had a few ideas rolling in my head at this point but I came down to two. I know I'm not omnipresent like my mother. One drawback of not having the full powers of The Endless was being everywhere at anytime of the day. If I had this and the same implications that I have now, this wouldn't be too painful to do. Upon knowing that I can only be in one universe at a time, I would have to either a. Try to narrow down this event and try to draw conclusion in one universe or b. ask aid of either a god or goddess to help me deal with this situation.

I have a problem with the second option only because of my experiences with gods and goddesses in the past. Though I am extremely old in a sense that I've been born far beyond many immortals that exist in other multiverses, I'm still consider extremely young underneath my Aunt Delirium who is always considered the youngest of The Endless. With that said, I've seen a fair share of gods and goddesses who are extremely pompous and almost seem as if many beings didn't even deserve the dust beneath their feet. Some gods even treated The Endless as substandard compared to them so you can imagine being either the sons or daughters of The Endless. I can say that humans were treated with a tad bit more respect than me or my cousin Orpheus, may his soul rest in peace.

With that mindset, I decided to take the option of the former and take the risk of finding a person who could help me in the affairs that I deal with. Granted, this option was also something on sandy foundation. This option would mean that I would have to study this universe, its laws, its physics, its people and all that lovely stuff that comes when travelling into a universe. Once I've had that settled into my mind, I would have to find a person who would be willing and able to deal with the potential danger of one that may or may not mane, cripple or kill said potential. I don't like putting mortals in the spot of danger, never been one to risk the life of but it is one of the choices that could help bring an end to this quickly or not.

If only I knew which one to choose.

That's the biggest concern on me; choosing one universe, choosing one hero for the sake of the rest of the multiverse. Would it be worth it?

As if my sailing device knew the answer, it lifted up from the water and began to sail up in the air towards a part of the sunless lands setting a course that could possibly kill me. Either this boat of mine was leading me somewhere that could inspire hope in my heart or decided the best choice was to lead me to my death. I held on to the boat anticipating where this thing was sending me. It sailed moving faster and faster in the sunless lands, the land of the in-between and the images around me began to warp and become stretched out as it moved faster and faster travelling at speeds that could put the speed of light to shame. Finally the images around me was made clear and I found myself above a city, the buildings below could mimic a quiet city, still lively in a way yet nothing bustling like New York or San Francisco. My vessel decided to hover, no longer traveling any further as if it ran out of breath.

I stood up and glare down at it all now being able to see where I was at. It didn't take me long to find out that I've never been to this universe before. Ideally speaking, this was all new to me. The air was the same yet it was different at the same time. The sensations that we perceive: touch, taste, smell, hearing and sight felt almost heightened in this universe to a point where I almost felt more than superhuman but rather god-like. Just viewing this universe, the inner structures and lines between it all was mind boggling as this universe seem to have sort of wacky physic engine that put video game engine obsolete and to shame. I may be exaggerating but I don't think so.

I needed to find someone who could help me. Just standing here on my vessel and hoping that I'll find someone fifty stories up in the air would help. I would have to find a power source or an aura of some kind. I have that ability to do that. It's an innate thing I learned when I was younger. In the past, I got into-well, I'll say mixes; These 'mixes' usually involving me escaping the wrath and grasp of a powerful deity that I've may or may not have tried to piss off. Of course they would send their best contracted men to kill me and none the less I had to teach myself to sense their presence whenever they tried to hide their own. In order to sense out powers like gods, goddesses or trying to find my Aunt Delirium, I would have to focus, almost meditate in searching out. It's much harder to do when I'm moving about. I can get a general perspective of things which was fine if I was running away and dodging. At a standstill, I am able to find who I'm looking for, almost like a search engine. I can get into deep detail searching into a person's soul. This gives me a general overview of who I am searching for and to see if he or she is the perfect candidate to help me.

I sat down crossing my legs in and I close my eyes beginning to cut out all of my senses. The wind pressed against my skin, I could hear it move past me with its bitter cold of the night as I was high up in the sky. These senses began to dull out becoming slightly numb then fading all together. The smells of the city dissipated almost instantly and my other senses did likewise. My body, mind and soul were drifting in a realm that was completely void of all physical and it had now entered into a world where the true soul can be watched and sensed.

I felt a charge of emotions pour into my mind gathering visions of people, old and young, men, women, children, animals even the smallest of creatures all rush into me all at once. I couldn't pull out at this point only because the madness of it all would scramble my head in an instant turning me into vegetable and that's never good to be a vegetable at a time like this. The surge of it all died down once I was grew accustomed to it and I was now able to focus. A soul is what I needed, what I needed help for. I call out to the souls of heroic ones, ones that will sacrifice for the greatest good and would not care if death was around the corner. Brave this soul would be, fearless and could not hesitate. The soul would be one who held power and could wield it without struggle. These were the thoughts that went into searching for whom I needed. When no soul resonated at first, all the voices beginning to die away into whispers then nothingness, I felt that helplessness again. No, it couldn't be too late now. It couldn't be. Not this universe, please, someone call out and take hold of the torch. Come on man…

A soul echoed within the thoughts of my doubt. It cleared it immediately and I grasped it quickly in order to find out what lied inside of it. Yes, there was a soul. Hope was there now and a heavy burden seemed to lift of me.

He existed as a man who was not just a man but also something else. A demon? No, not truly demonic, not all the way that is. He was a half breed; one who had human physical needs, wants, desires and ideals yet had the power and abilities of a demon. Quite interesting, I've never had to deal with a half-breed before. All of my existence, I've dealt with a majority of sentient beings yet this one was a bit off on the odd side; an eccentric part of me woke up then now with its curiosity peaked viewing this white haired half-breed. I smiled looking into this person's soul. I looked into his past, looking at when he was born, his birth, his family, his fondest memories, his painful ones. I saw and felt who he loved and who he hated, who he cherished and who he missed. I felt his fighting spirit, felt and experienced what he fought and what he fought for. This man, this person, yes, he was perfect. This was a person that I could work with and I could reasonably ask for his help.

It's a risk another voice in my head, the rational, non-eccentric part of me said. He'll need to bought, probably bribed. He's a man with many skills yet can't seem to feed himself.

This almost sounded vaguely familiar. It dawned on me instantly hearing my Uncle Morpheus speak that to me when I was young. He said that versatility was a blessing and curse. One may have many skills and master them but maybe poor at more important matters. It was something along the line, I'm paraphrasing.

Mmm, yes, that is true. I can't just ask him and expect him to work willingly without payment. Hmmm. This certainly puts a little bit of a challenge. My thrill-seeking mindset came upon me breaking the meditation that I was going through and the ideas began to go in gear as I began to think of what I needed to convince this man. I smiled at this. This was beckoning me to find a great idea.

* * *

><p>The hooded creature that attacked Dante not five minutes after losing the two allies among them had finally reported back to once it came. The creature was licking its wounds and it was in the literal sense. The creature had been shot in the chest just above where the sternum would be. Granted, the physiology of its body was completely different from a human and a demon, it still experience a great deal of pain like a person who broke their collar bone would experience. It wouldn't have mattered anyway whether or not it healed. There was a feeling of dread among its aura. Dread and just a hint of fear passed in it as it walked through an open warehouse door. The storage warehouse area by the coast cast a lingering shadow over the creature even as it entered into the darkness of the warehouse. There were the sounds of machinery, gears churning against one another and slowly the warehouse door began to close. Where the creature stood, the light faded away slowly as the door slid across the panel. The sense of dread only increased when the door closed and he was fully enveloped in darkness.<p>

"Where are the other two?" a voice in the distant warehouse spoke. Its deep baritone voice shook the metal girders that were stacked on one another.

The creature spoke in that screeching sound with the pitch of its voice ranging on different levels. With the range of sounds in its voice it sounded almost fearful in spite of itself. It continued to speak then the voice spoke again saying silence. The voice didn't yell this out but the coldness coming out from his voice sent chills down the creatures back. Did the creature expect mercy from its master? That was a foolish question to ask itself knowing full well that the failure of killing the demon hunter would end in his death as well. It grabbed at its chest feeling the heat of the wound.

"Prized assassins failing to kill one man? How shameful." The voice seem to shake its head in the darkness although no one could see his image anywhere.

Another voice, not as deep, almost sounding young, spoke in the darkness "You underestimated the demon hunter. In this universe, the man you sent to kill has gone against high level of demons. Are you that surprised that he killed two assassins and wounded one? You should be impressed knowing that this hunter has skill."

The deeper voice made a sound with his mouth obviously annoyed by the comment. The young voice spoke again "I say that this failure was quite a success knowing that we're going up against a formidable target." There was a pause. Feet clicked and clacked on metal above the creature "You've done well," the younger voice spoke "Treat your wounds and be prepared for another battle in the near future."

The creature, surprised by this notion, bowed its head and made a sound that showed its gratitude. It then disappeared in the shadow.

"Melancholy," the deep voice spoke in an almost cold whisper "why is it that you always defy my rule?"

"Defy?" Melancholy spoke "I didn't defy anything." The young voice that spoke was exactly what you would expect in appearance. He was young, around the age of sixteen or seventeen years old. He had long, very twisted and curly hair that trailed down to his shoulders. His entire aura projected rebellion as he had a whisper of a coy smile on his lips. The man with the deeper voice was exactly how he sounded: his height would tower most people, a staggering six feet eleven inches of creation that was bald headed and had a face that no one could love. His skin was a charcoal black literally blending in with the darkness that filled the warehouse. The one trait that put him off as a scary individual was the fact that his eyes were completely white, pupil and all, and they had a bright shine to them. "I spoke rationally. I knew well enough that the assassins wouldn't of killed the half-breed. Sending them off was a death sentence alone." he shrugged "Besides that, we'll be sending him off again and seeing his state, he'll die by the time he meets the half breed again. No point of killing pawns off if they still have their uses."

The large man looked at Melancholy with fierce white eyes. Then his expression settled and it showed as his eyes seem to sigh "I suppose" he admitted, hesitantly "that there is reason within your statement." He began to walk down the lifted corridor and Melancholy followed. "What do you suggest we do knowing we have a person who could pose a threat to us?"

"Wow, that's a first. You want my opinion on something. Truly I am honored."

"Quit the sarcasm. The question is a serious one. If what you say is true then we must strike him at his weakest."

"Well, I suppose one tactic would be to threaten what he cares for," Melancholy said as the both of them walked down a set of stairs "and obviously of course blackmail him and force him to our playground to die."

The large man contemplated in the darkness then spoke again "No. I don't want this to be prolonged out and if doing so means finding out his strengths and weaknesses then I wouldn't of send those assassins out there. I want his life to end as fast and painless as possible."

Melancholy made a quick chuckle whether it was out the amusement for the large man or out of mockery, the dark one did not know. He turned his head viewing the young man. He saw his arms were folded among one another and his head was kept low as if thinking "I suppose you can try and send the eater squad."

If the large man had any eyebrows, it would've furrowed and one eye rose with a question on his face. Not out of confusion on who the eater squad but rather the questioning towards this logic. Melancholy continued "You created and trained them . If you want a job done as quickly as you like, you'll want to use them. The assassin's we have will just be laying waste to manpower and eventually they'll lead to our ruin in this universe if he begins to put the pieces together. With the eater squad, they can lay waste to our half-breed friend." He chuckled eerily "Besides, after the last universe they wasted, they've grown stronger. They will definitely be a great challenge for the devil hunter."

The large man smiled maliciously in the dark now seeing the idea more as brilliant than a waste. He at first thought the idea was piss poor on the account that the eater squad sole purpose was to destroy and consume everything. As Melancholy said, they were of his creation. The thought of using a group of them for the sake of killing one man was ridiculous notion until Melancholy spoke just a bit of sense into him. "I do want to see how they have improved in power. All that experienced they've gained and I can't witness it? It's like a father missing out on his son's basketball tournament."

Melancholy nodded "And while you get to experience the fruit of your laborers you also be ridding of a pest. See? Two birds with one stone as they say."

"Quite intriguing." The large man spoke turning his head and looking down at the teenage boy "You seem to know what makes me enjoy my job."

"What can I say?" Melancholy spoke "I aim to please."

* * *

><p>Bobby's Cellar was the one bar in the city that Dante had intended to satisfy the wants his body was craving for tonight. Any bar or restaurant in the city could've easily suffice his needs of pizza and alcohol; Dante passed a few on his way towards the Cellar and for that moment, only for that moment to make a right or left into that said bar or restaurant and order what he wanted. His odds of someone putting it on his tab, however, were slimmer than the last paycheck he got from his latest job.<p>

He was hired as a bodyguard for one of the local politicians who received death threats in the area. They suspected it was the mafia of the city since the other running candidate was funded by said family. It should've been an easy week for him seeing that the politician was as nervous as a whore in church on Easter Sunday. He didn't the compound of his mansion only for rallies and fund-raisers. During that week Dante experienced what it must felt for the secret service to stand and look at everyone suspiciously as if everyone in that rally or fund-raiser had murdered an entire orphanage but you just can't prove it yet. During those gatherings the politician had a permanent grin on his face with the cheeriest of attitudes and had spoke with earnest in all his speeches. Every time he came home, the man would sit down in his chair in his office and had a face that had seen a ghost. The man looked pale and sick most of time. The other times he was at rallies while the other half he was shit-faced under a bottle of rum (coke and rum was this man's favorite mix).

So it was an easy week. The man's paranoia made it easy for Dante until the second to last day of the contract where a group of men, armed to the teeth with military issued service rifles, stormed into the mansion and began to shoot anything and everything. Dante meant everything because at the end of it all there was no one killed, not a single person was even grazed by the bullets that were sprayed in an attempt to murder the politician. Dante had only meant to disarm and subdue them not intending on killing the wannabe assassins. He saved the politician and his family's life and he felt good that at least something came out of this job.

What was the pisser about it all was the fact that he cheated out of money due to the fact that the money he earned went towards the wrecked furniture, windows, precious valuables and all those goodies Dante swore on his non-existent uncle that there was nothing stating property damage on the contract. The amount of the paycheck was so pitiful that he was almost tempted to rip the check in half only to stop himself out of the rationale that every little penny counts.

Going to the Cellar meant that there also may be someone in particular that could offer him another job. Being a jack-of-all tradesman attracted the sort of men you don't see during the day or they were the ones to say 'you don't call us, we'll call you' in that mysterious sort of way that always made Dante roll his eye whenever a client ever pull that lame line. He pulled open the door and the smell of cigarette, booze and sweat filled all his senses and conjures up all those good memories. I suppose this would be the part where he would say 'no place like home.'

The place was semi-busy with a group of the usual crowd. He saw two mercenaries in the corner with two men, both wearing black suits and ties and shades, talking quietly to one another. Dante could only guess it was a discussion on a hit or protection or both for that matter. The two mercenaries looked as though they could be from a biker gang. There were workers from a factory no more than five blocks down from the Cellar, were at the pool table playing and of course betting a bit of their money away. One of them saw Dante come him and gave a quick nod drinking a swig of his beer. Dante gave a slight wave before sitting on the counter, elbows on the table and hands crossed.

"Tony." A gruff voice spoke. Grue, a large man with an early to mid-fifties look turned around wiping a mug with a rag that Dante could swore was dirty. "Didn't expect to see you in tonight. Thought you were on a job for a politician. Beer or a Sundae?"

"Sundae. And I was on a job" Dante corrected "Got jipped at the last minute for something I didn't cause. Property damage. Couldn't believe the bullshit they pulled on me."

"Ayep." Grue said, reaching down underneath the counter and pulled out a container of vanilla ice cream "That's the business for ya kid. You should've realized that once you got in the trade. Sometimes your contractor puts you in a shit deal and you just can't quit because it may feed you for a week or two."

"I don't know how you handled the business for so long. I know the stories you told about how you got decked over hard by a few contracts."

"Oh yeah. I've had many debates with myself as to why I should even continue going. Was it worth risking my head for some people who very well had no idea that I had a wife and two daughters at home who need me to be there? I had countless nights were sleep couldn't even take me as my mind sometimes thought through the hours of why. It was always a constant why."

"What made you stay in the game?"

Grue had a perplex look on his face contemplating over that and then shrugged and gave a wistful smile "It was between the life of a mercenary or the life of an accountant." He chuckled "I don't do well with paperwork so I suppose a mercenary had fit the bill. Besides, after awhile, I was so deep in the underground that I have doubts any company would hire someone of my status."

"Can't say I could do a desk job either. That would be so boring, snores-fucking-ville if you ask me. I like the freedom of this jack-of-all-trades stuff has to offer."

"Yeah, well once you have a family to raise and feed you begin to contemplate your options and have some doubt." He had three scoops of ice cream into a bowl and was drizzling a fair amount the strawberry sauce and some cut up strawberries onto the sundae. Dante instinctively cleared his throat as the saliva kicked in. "You'll see once it happens."

_If he ever happens _he thought. Grue passed the bowl over to Dante. He didn't hesitate to grab the spoon and dig in. He still wanted a pizza. "Hey" he said "Do you mind…"

"I already got one cooking already."

Dante raised an eyebrow "And you said you didn't think I was coming in tonight."

"That's the one thing about being a mercenary. You can never be too prepared." There was a group of men on the far side of the bar who was calling over to Grue wanting another round for them. He shouted saying to hold on. Grue made an expression on how he was simply annoyed by the customers down at the end and said without words of his return momentarily. Dante nodded and began to eat away at his strawberry sundae. He wasn't even on his fourth or fifth bite when he heard the door of the Cellar open. Dante normally didn't pay attention to the patrons that were entering or leaving the pub but for some reason he turned around this time. The door had closed behind him. Walking towards the bar was a man no taller than Dante himself, maybe two or three inches shorter than him. He wore all black, a unbuttoned short sleeved collared shirt, his jeans and his shoes were all an unsteady black accept for the shirt he was wearing underneath the collared shirt. That shirt was a crimson red t-shirt. On the bottom right hand corner was what appeared to be a red cross only the top part looped inward on itself. No one in the bar seemed to take notice unlike when Dante enter into the pub. He appeared invisible to the people as if he was a walking shadow.

The man stood behind Dante. Dante turned around and looked up at the man who had a warm smile on his face "Anyone sitting there?"

Dante shook his head and man proceeded into sitting "They let a shirtless guy walk into an establishment like that?" the man asked.

"I got the jacket on. That can count as shirt."

The man shrugged obviously not wanting to go further in that argument. "I heard through the grapevine that you are the one I can talk to if I am need of a man for a job."

"That depends." Dante took a small slither of the strawberry sauce and licked it "What does the job involve?" Usually Dante would receive the shady types and he was expecting a vague answer that would no doubt lead to someone getting killed. He wasn't a hitman; he refused jobs that takes the life of a human being unless he was truly threaten by one.

Dante didn't get that answer. The man saw the look on his face as if-Dante was almost certain, almost positive that the man had read into that little thought but that may have been paranoia kicking in."I'm in a bit of a pickle. I was doing an investigation on the matters of murders. I was believing it to be the work of man but now looking at it further, I do believe that the following conclusion I made had revised into more of the-supernatural realm."

Dante had a spoonful of ice cream halfway towards his mouth. Now that was a first in a very long time to hear someone say something along those lines. Not human? Supernatural? Not the usual client he was getting from the past few months. He put the ice cream back into the bowl "Are we talking demons?" he said this softly though he doubt if he spoke it normally no one would've heard.

"It may be. The creatures I've seen in pictures do appear demonic in nature but they come off as something far more…unusual." The man paused and leans forward on the bar "The creatures had appeared human-like anatomically speaking. Physically, they appear human with some of their characteristics are exaggerated to an extent such as height of the legs and arms, the torso seems lanky and outstretched and the face appears narrow. From what I've heard, they have the feeling of something out of this world as they have the reflexes that far surpass any humans; reaction timing far quicker, physically can be overwhelming to some." The man paused seeing of Dante wanted him to continue. Dante notion him to do so and the man continued "Reports say that the creatures have some sort of intelligence as it is able to carry long blades, perhaps longer than a katana yet they cannot speak like you and I can but through types of screams and screeches. So far, you can say that this is far out of my department of expertise."

Dante's thoughts were all suspicion, eeriness and downright caution. This man didn't have the usual set up of someone wearing a suit walking in with a briefcase and telling him all of this. From his appearance, he appeared as if he grew up in the streets or was someone who was in college or in a band of some kind. He didn't come off as an investigator yet his speech, the politeness of it all, the way he described the creatures he just killed not fifteen minutes ago was so professional that it almost made him drop that spoon with the ice cream.

It was the paranoia again. That's all it was. Just a late night, just a bit of a drag that his shop was in ruins and he had to kill two ugly looking 'demons' or whatever they were. Just a bit much for the night he guessed. Yeah, that's the rational part of him talking now, putting his head at ease. All right, back to the man's statement. It all sounded interesting and he knew that he would take the case almost immediately. It was that Sparda blood pumping the words "protect humans" in his bloodstream that made him want to do it. No, need to do it.

"All right. How much we talking? I can't be doing charity work all the time."

"Depends." The man spoke plainly. That was a first. Dante never got a response like that. Was he asking to name his price or perhaps the varying hours of payment? Dante didn't want to look confuse but just leaving him with just the claim 'Depends', it can make a man wonder a thousand things. The man clarified "That'll depend on what the cost of repairing your shop. I saw it on the way here and thought that maybe if I could convince you into helping me with my problem. I need someone with your skill and I don't know who else to turn to."

Dante kept his silence only taking a few bites into his sundae. That pause left the area around them heavy as if this answer would decide some odd fate. It had two benefits if he were to take this case. The first was the fact that the man made a promise to help fix his shop. That was half the factor right there. If he was able to impress this client as well, and he intends to do so, he could probably get a few extra and maybe be able to feed himself other than an increasing high tab on pizza from the local pizza shop. The second factor would be the problem with those creatures. He didn't have to assume on the basis that those creatures destroyed his shop for shits and giggles. They knew it would get his attention and they purposely did it. Oh it grabbed his attention and it thoroughly pissed him off. If he could get any clues as to who sent those three and find the true culprits, he could personally kick their asses for it.

It was an offer that was hard to refuse.

"I'll agree under one condition."

The man turns to meet Dante eye to eye. Dante had notice how black the man's eyes were. It wasn't a haunting type of black that some humans and demons have for eyes. It almost seem like they had some sort of history, ancient and calculating, that spanned for ages. He mentally shook himself out of it. "I'll agree that as long as we're hunting for the supernatural and we don't try to kill anyone who is human."

The man frowned a bit not dishearten but rather in deep thought. He nodded his head and smiled that warm smile he had "ok" he said simply. He held out a hand for Dante to shake "You have a deal."

Dante shook it "Do you have a name mister…?"

"You can call me Dime if I can call you Dante." He said pleasantly.

"Fair enough." He questioned what kind of name is Dime but he'll leave the menial questions later.

Hunger.

It consumes them. All of them hungry in a constant wave that was seemingly endless like an ocean. They were always hungry, always endless, always driven by the hunger.

They were hungry. The creatures of dimensions; they were those that consume everything and all things until there was nothing more than emptiness. The emptiness almost seem like it represented what the eaters are. Regardless of how much they consume, they needed more.

The eaters were now among the realm of the sunless lands. The water reflecting the universe, they saw how much more they needed to do in order to complete their hunger.

It drove them; it consumes them

They have left a universe just recently. It was a dying one; the beings of that universe had all died away, destroyed because of war and faded away like a far off dream. There was no more life given in that world, Death's grasp had yet to take it and end said universe. The eaters came and consumed it, little by little, their hunger satiated for such a short time. They first consumed the matter of the smallest atoms and moved their way up till they started to consume stars and galaxies. Finally, they began to consume the darkness of the universe until it was no more.

Yet they were still hungry. Still wanting to consume. Still wanting to eat everything and anything.

They look at one of the universes that sparkled-it's where are master is at, our master, our father, our creator-in a signal that only they could respond to. Their excitement grew for just a moment till the hunger came and consume the emotion. They needed to eat. They needed more to eat.

They would come, oh yes; they would certainly come to see their master. But their hunger was a more convincing god than the one who created it telling the creatures in its slow, seductive whisper that it will be ok; you just need to eat more and more and more.

Yes, a god who can please them. Desire first The eaters would come. Yes, they would come.


	3. The Cleaners

Chapter 3

"The target is moving three miles due south." A female voice spoke softly to Lady. Lady was lying down on her stomach, one eye closed while the other eye was placed into a scope of a nice .50 caliber rifle. The woman on her left placed a hand on the spotter scope and began turning the dials changing the resolution and the amount of light gathering in. "Three moving vehicles in front, heavily armored to the teeth. Three in the back." The woman turned to Lady, a witty smile rose on her lips "These demons must be packing some heat. Headquarters was right about this. Think you can handle it rookie?"

Lady smiled finding the hilarity of her comment. The women, her name Veronica, hadn't known about Lady's experiences with the half-human/half-demon combo of Dante and Vergil and how her insane father had tried to obtain the power of Sparda through manipulation of the three of them. It sounds attractive on an application but she had doubts whether this organization would have taken it seriously or, to her dismay, believes the story to be true.

The organization hiring her, The Cleaners was their unofficial name, was one of the undergrounds top devil hunting group and had asked, in the vaguest, indirect way as possible, Lady an offer that could put a steady amount of cash in her and possibly give her a better reputation than most bounty hunters on the market. Needless to say, the offer was enticing for her to break apart from Dante for a short period of time albeit quitting Devil May Cry and focusing more on her solo career. What did she say to Dante when she was in his office and he was looking at a magazine? "We both need to separate for the sake of ourselves" or something along those lines. Just like she expected, Dante didn't seem to give a damn whether or not she left but Lady could see the ruse and saw the mild sadness in his eyes.

That was four months ago. She wondered how Dante was going on in life. He probably gotten back to his routine eating pizza and ice cream sundaes as per usual and was always leaving a mess in his office that made it almost impossible to sit in any part of said office without having to check whether your butt was clean or not. I believe the last meeting she encountered there was a pile of Jack Daniels in a pile over by the pool table. Her last thought about the place was how was he getting the money to get that amount of Jack?

She waved it off mentally. It didn't matter then and doesn't matter now. Dante was a past thing and right now her partner in this was helping her spot for a scout mission. It wasn't solo as she had expected it to be. She was partnered with one of their more elite fighting force that also act as recon and black operations of The Cleaners. She was more excited than disappointed once she got a hold of 'the baby'. That was the name of the modified .50 caliber she had laying beside her and aimed at her target. The other sniper they had was off on another task that was overseas. God, how Lady had almost purred at the feel of it; the rifle was just humming a song that only she could hear and as bad as she wanted, she wanted to laugh like a giddy school girl.

She hadn't object for the mission. The case was that there was an organization, mafia oriented Lady assumed, that were once a low end street gang that rose extremely quickly in the past couple months. The months prior to their increase infamy was that they were unable to get off the low end grade of the criminal underground. Their financial structure how now comprised of drug trafficking, prostitution, assassination and one thing that was new on the list of most mafia organizations, devil collecting.

That last one alone caught the eye of the Cleaners and Lady couldn't blame them for their suspicion. A low-class mafia now rising to the top in less than a year? Of course, that's normal.

She cut the sarcasm short and saw through her scope the path the SUV's were taking. They were oddly placed in the small town of Amadeus. The small houses that spread between one by acres and acres of fertile farmland made the seven vehicles stand out. No doubt the gossip for the tomorrow morning would be this happening outside one of the seemingly vacant houses.

Veronica and Lady had taken nest on one of the hillsides 800 yards away. Lady didn't ask why they had taken nest here but Veronica spoke on it as if she did "If there are demons resting inside of them then they'll have a way of sensing any hostile threats. I doubt they'll have sensors in the area but we can't be too sure."

Lady understood that much and understood also that this way they have a better way of escaping if shit just happen to hit the fan. Better to be nested here than where the other two men were attempting to do.

700 yards from Veronica and Lady's position and into the town itself were two men sitting on wooden floor on the second level of an inn. They were also sniper and spotter only they also have in their arsenal of M-16's, frag grenades, .45 caliber pistols, two .44 magnums, a few C4s and resting beside the larger of the two was an anti-tank rocket propelled missile and the launcher("No such thing as over kill" Marcus said during their debriefing. Veronica had rolled her eyes "It's a scout mission, not a god damn rescue mission. For chrissake." She rubbed her temples feeling a headache coming along).

Marcus, the sniper, had his sights down on the middle car, a stretched limousine, where he suspected their target to be resting. Jean, the spotter, made a sarcastic remark earlier saying no shit, of course the target is in the limo. When are they not in the limo? Marcus had his eyes still hone in on the scope but he raised a hand and showed his middle finger "No thanks, not on the first date." Jean replied.

Jean's eyes caught the vehicles stopping at the entrance of the abandon mansion. All of their headlights had been off as they were driving down the pathway. They were big, gas drinking vehicles yet, they made little sound as they traversed the dirt road. The area where the houses were at had no streetlights making it hard for one to see. Only light was the moon that cascaded all of the area with dim white light. He looked over at his watch and saw that it was 11:57 pm. He held one finger to his ear and there was a soft clicking noise. "I got two visuals coming out of the second SUV in front. Two men, both wearing suits, going to the limousine. Over."

"Roger" the voice on the other end was Veronica's "Copy the two visuals. Wait for any sign of suspicious activity."

"Copy Black Cat." He took his hand off his ear. He looked over at Marcus "Fucking scouting missions. The baseball game between University of Grand Peak and University of San Longus is on and I'm missing out."

"Can't complain about the pay," The big guy responded "I would rather be home and in bed with my wife than be here right now but hey, the pay is still good."

"How is she by the way? Wasn't she pregnant last time I heard?"

"Eight and a half months in her pregnancy. She looks like she has two basketballs in her stomach. They say that it's twins."

"No shit." Jean twiddled with the toothpick in his mouth and lightly bit down on the edge of it, then smiled "Two for the price of one eh?" Marcus smiled underneath his breath and Jean did the same "So what do you think about the new girl? What's her name again?"  
>"Lady." Marcus said casually twisted a knob on his scope viewing the two men walking over the limo and standing by the far end of the door "Nice girl. I didn't get a chance to really talk to her but she seems pleasant enough."<p>

"You think she's single?" Jean asked.

"I think she's not your type. I get a bit of a feeling that she may be the 'Veronica' type of women."

Jean disappointment showed through his face as he frowned a bit and seethed inwardly as the words 'Veronica type of women' went pressing on him. _Dammit_ he thought and _she has a nice set of tits too._

"Indeed she does." Marcus whispered. Jean jolted his head to Marcus staring down at him "Stay focus. If I'm able to read into your mind, who can say the enemy cannot do the same."

Jean's eyes gave him a disapproving look but he turned, reluctantly, back to his scope. His attention focused back on the two men by the limousine. It seems that during their little chat, the burly men did not make a move. Jean caught a glimpse of one of the men on the far side of the door, nods to the other man and grabbed the handle. The limo made a slight bounce and out came a bear of a man who had to be no bigger than seven feet tall. He had some type of pelt around his neck and a large head that both Marcus and Jean would later say was as big as a watermelon. Their lips were moving. Jean could read them with perfect clarity.

"Are you sure it's here?" the large Mafioso spoke.

The guard to the Mafioso left nodded. "They said that the delivery would be made at midnight."

"Better be. This town gives me a fucking chill down my back. Once we get it, let's had back into town and get back to civilization."

Jean looked at his watch and it was now 11:59, just twenty seconds before the initial deadline. He pressed a finger on his ear "Look alive. We have ourselves a midnight shift. Anything goes down, shoot to kill."

Lady heard this on the other end and her finger was just grazing the trigger, lightly caressing it like a teasing lover. She wanted to pull it, she wanted some shit to go down and she wanted to shoot the baby out with its high velocity rounds into a target. This was a first in a very long time since she had been this ecstatic about holding something with that much power. Oh how a girl loves her guns.

All of their watches clicked to midnight. They all seem to synchronize in breathing as they let in a long inhale and held it in before letting go. The fireworks began. The lights in the mansion all came on; although upon further inspection there wasn't any wiring in the house for the past few weeks. The lights were unnatural bright at first, then the colors were changing on the spectrum from an unholy blue to a callous orange to a demented purple and so on and so forth. Just thirty seconds of the light show, the earth shook with slow, uneasy movements. Marcus had hated things shaking, even if he was in a car for an extended period of time and began to feel his stomach churn a little now regretting the steak and eggs he had ate before coming here. Jean saw the large man and the two guards held onto the car to keep balance but the cars were titter and tottering.

The doors of all of the vehicles came wide open and altogether a total of twenty men jumped out onto the dirt paved street on hand with military issued pistols, assault carbines and combat shotguns. This seem to anger whatever it was in the house and there was a feral shout made out of the mansion, the lights changing rapidly.

_It's like a haunted rave_ Jean thought

"Easy does it…" Veronica spoke in the radio softly. Both Lady and Marcus had a finger on the trigger; their scopes no longer aiming at the large man but at the house and just waited.

Then it all stopped.

The silence that grasped them was eerie and edged for something to happen. This was the holy-shit-something-is-about-to-happen silence that Marcus eloquently puts it whenever a silence such as this occurs. Jean and Veronica spotted the men by the cars. They were all crouched down, their hands on the triggers of their guns and all on edge to shoot something, anything. Both of them were waiting for a slip up out of them. Marcus was calm and hoped nothing would go off to suddenly. Jean was counting in head back from ten, wondering how long it would be until some something would happen. And Lady…?

She was the first spot something coming from behind the mansion. It jumped high in the air fifty, no seventy feet high above. The men on the ground didn't even notice it as they were still on the shaken side. Lady said in the radio "Up high!" All of them looked through their scopes and saw what she saw. The thing came crashing down on one of the armed SUV's. It crushed it like a hammer to a toy car and it let out a howl that sent out a shockwave of ear shattering capabilities.

"Shit." Both Marcus and Jean said in serene agony. Their ears were clogged and wet with blood as the screech reached their way. Jean continued to look through the scope. He saw that the creature was reptilian, ten feet tall with extremely long and muscular legs that were meant for running, chasing down its prey and, of course, jumping. Its arms were as long as it's legs and at the ends of it were long claws that seem to be as sharp as machete blades. The creature swung at one of the guards who had aimed his shotgun at the creature's head. It didn't even get a chance to fire off as the head of the guard shot off like a firecracker; the blood flood out of his neck and onto the nearby guard. The blood seem to blind him and he let out a cry which was the only thing the guard did before his body was bifurcated.

Then the shooting began.

All of the guards had aimed their carbines, riles and pistol and didn't hesitate to shoot at it. They were in panic but they weren't that panic stricken to freeze and let the creature live. Some of them were yelling out a primal roar as they shot their rounds hoping to damage it. All was for naught as their bullets only bounced off the skin of the reptilian creature.

The bullets didn't seem to inflict pain on the creature. It only made another roar that expressed anger. Jean had an expression of 'oh shit'.

There was another figure jumping from behind the mansion and it could be assumed that it was another one of those reptilian creatures. It landed in front of the gate, crushing it beneath his feet and let out a howl similar to the one on top of the car. It bum rushed the limousine where it swiped it long claws at the three men. Their bodies made a swish noise as the claws ripped through each one of them men, including watermelon head Mafioso. Its claws pierced into the limousine and proceed to lift it up above its head ready to drop it down on its foreboding targets. The driver in the limo had open the door and fell out behind the creature and began to scamper off screaming in terror.

Veronica patted Lady's shoulder "I need you to…"

"Armor piercing rounds. Two cartridges." She pulled out the high velocity rounds and replaced them with armor piercing rounds that could no less pierce into an armored Humvee. Lady aimed carefully at the creature with the limo in its hand. She didn't aim for the head, not in general, but the sweet spot. It was where the brain and brain stem met and it would mean instant death regardless if it was human or demon. She steady her breathing, inhaling and exhaling, everything around her seem to have muted itself and all she could hear was the slow beating of her heart. It was lup dup. Lup dup. Lup dup. Her finger was slowly pulling on the trigger. Her breathing seemed to slow a bit as she inhaled and exhaled. Lup dup. Lup dup. Lup dup. Lup dup. When her heart went lup again she pulled the trigger.

The bullet trailed toward its target. It cut through the air with heat piercing movement. The creature didn't even feel the bullet pierce in it. It didn't see the bullet come at him nor did it hear the bullet moving through the air that was aimed to kill it instantly. As it did, the bullet pierced into his nose and drove itself towards the target that Lady could not have seen but visualized. It cut the connection between the brain stem and brain with precision and out the back end. The creature collapsed on itself with the limousine crashing down on its head.

The sound of the sniper wasn't silenced; the recoil of the rifle could've broken any normal man's arm. 'The Baby', as it was called by the former sniper, was design specifically to not only pierce and kill through high armored targets; with the right rounds, it was also able to penetrate through tanks and aircrafts. The drawback was the fact that it was impossible to be used by any normal man and the person who was the sniper would have to have some sort of augmentation done to themselves. Veronica was expecting to see the rookie scream in agony due to the shock of the recoil. She looked like a fragile girl from what she assumed. To Veronica's surprise, Lady's arm didn't break. It recoiled with the rifle and Lady let out a surprise gasp from it all "Holy shit." She said, her face shifting from shock to pure, erotic ecstasy. Her hand slowly caressed the barrel not caring for the heat of it. It felt invigorating to the touch and it made her smile sensually. "Baby, give me more," She said in a sensual voice "we're just getting started."

Her reaction alone caused Veronica to be slightly surprised and slightly cautious. The other sniper had that same reaction when she shot off the rifle only her words were dirtier and the gleam in her eyes had so much passion that the only way for her to stop was for her to run out of ammunition. "Glad you like it. Don't go batshit crazy on me now, Lady. We still have one more target."

"Don't worry." Jean said on the other end of the radio "Marcus and I can take-"in the background was the thump sound and then a flaring noise came in. Lady and Veronica could hear Marcus in the background screaming out "Get some!" as the missile reached its target. The reptilian creature had made its way to a few more of the guards ripping them apart one by one before the missile made impact on the creature. It exploded on contact consuming the creature into the explosion and whoever else was around that vicinity.

"The god damn marine!" Veronica didn't even try to keep her voice down on that one and pulled out her ear bud. "So much for being subtle. Come on Lady. We'll need to return to base."

"We're not going to wait up for the others?" Lady asked, already knowing the answer.

"They'll catch up. The moment the guards skimper off, they'll be collecting some samples of that demon you shot in the head. They'll meet us in two hours or so."

"Got it." Lady nodded and got up holding onto 'the baby'.

"Nice shot by the way. Who taught you to hold a weapon like that?"

Lady smiled. Her red and blue eyes glisten in the moonlit sky making them seem radiant "Long story."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"So I gotta ask: What kind of name is Dimes?" Dante said this as I open up the bar door exiting out of that smoke infested place. It hadn't even been two minutes after the agreement and already he was asking what it was that made my name so off. Was Dimes that odd of a name?

"Old time nickname I got when I was little. I use to collect different types of dimes from the past to the present. I had a large collection and my friends named me Dimes because of it" I didn't think it was really necessary to go into full detail, or even be truthful for that matter. Not yet that is. The story I gave would suffice him for now. Avoiding all the major details in place of a false one would probably piss this guy off later if he were to continue on with him. For right now, the story provided, hopefully, didn't bring up questions.

It didn't. Dante seemed content with the answer as he shrugged plainly and moved on. "So you saw the status of my shop. Did you so happen to see a corpse of a hooded thing that smelled like the back end of a whale's ass?"

"How do you know what a whale's ass smells like?"

Surprisingly he answered "Let's say that one job I had involved a beach whale, four ninja assassins, a sexy secretary and two mafia families that wanted my head on a silver platter." I was wondering if he was serious or not, but there was no hint of sarcasm with that statement. I wanted to laugh but I shuddered at the thought. "Sounds like a bad porno doesn't it?"

"If there was cheesy 70s music, you would fit the bill. To answer your first question, yes I did find that hooded creature dead on the street. It had bullet wounds the size of oranges. I didn't get a good examination of all the wounds but the major one I saw was that one bullet enter into the stomach," I pointed to my stomach for added effect "and saw a nice helping of intestines turned into jellified spaghetti." This little tidbit of information made Dante smile embarrassingly "I took the body to the place I'm staying at before I came over to the pub. That's where we'll be heading to for tonight. You can stay at my place until the conclusion of our contract."

"Any plans for travelling? I have a feeling that his is happening else around the country." I was surprised somewhat of that assumption because it was a good one.

"Yes." I answered "Do you have anything against travel."

"Ha! I don't mind it as long as you're paying."

"All expenses during this task will be handled by me." _Since by now, I already know you're broke at the moment and asking you for money would be like asking Delirium to make coherent sentences. _"But if you want something like booze then you'll have to pay that yourself."

"Oh I have enough for booze, pizza and ice cream. I always have a fund for those simple pleasures." That intrigued me as well. Why did Dante crave these things? I understand the man was young, considerably young maybe in his early twenties and could burn away energy like a jet engine. You would think that someone with his physique would aim for better foods yet he consumes what I like to call the "yeah, you're dying in thirty years' diet. Maybe he didn't do it for looks, but rather did it for the taste.

We arrived at the apartment, which I had quickly composed of in the matter of minutes, on the far end of town where it wasn't too ritzy for my taste and it was neither projected as something from the ghetto. With a bit of coercion, a bit of dream magic to put into the landlady's and neighbors' minds that I've been in her apartment complex for more than a year now, I was able to find a space for myself and my 'supplies'.

We walked in and we saw the landlady sitting behind the desk. Her name was Eleanor Savage, a women in her mid-forties who was divorced three years ago to a man who owned a good sums of this cities hotels. She was a calm woman, no more losing her composure than some women do when that 'shit hit the fan' moment arrived. Was she surprised to find that her former husband was cheating on her with several women during their twelve year relationship? Was she surprised that the divorce was a messy one and the lawyers had cheated her out of money and he in fact gained money from it rather than lose? Was she surprised that she had to live with one of her friends, an old colleague from college who was also divorced but also had an addiction to cocaine and would sometimes not have the rent on time which would lead to her to have sex with the landlord? Was she surprised that her only son had ran away from home and found out that he's been selling himself for heroine? All these things were just barriers in her life that she just walked around whenever they came and she just calmly took it all in. I learned all of this in a matter of seconds and I must say that my skill in looking into one's mind is getting better and better every day.

She looked up at me and Dante and gave us a charming smile. I saw that it was aimed to Dante which, to my dismay, he gave a charming smile back and lean on the counter. Her attraction was quite stunning to be honest. For someone who's been through that type of shit for a period of time, and not gain any creases on the skin amazes me. Humans are still surprising to me. "Who's your friend?" Eleanor asked me not moving her eyes away from Dante's.

"An associate of mine. He's come to help investigate the case I'm on."

"Hmmm." She said, not really taking in what I just said. I could see her eyes just sexing up my associate. I grabbed Dante shoulder and pulled him away.

"I'll be seeing you later Ms. Savage" I said continuing to hull my white-hair associate into the elevator. "Come on pretty boy."

"Hey, I take offense to that." He said, playfully offended.

After exiting out of the elevator and took a right down the hallway, we arrived at my room. I pulled out one key out of my pocket. I unlocked the door to reveal the room that I had created in such short notice. I only wish I had a bit more time otherwise I would've cleaned up but hey, a guy has priorities and this wasn't one of them.

The apartment that I had assembled didn't have your typical fare that one who looks like they are a bachelor in their mid-twenties, rather the assembly of what mad scientists and eccentric doctors would have in a secret place of a building where there were few, if not many elaborate ways to get into said place. The apartment itself mimicked the pocket dimension that I created for the part of experimentation (mostly self experimentation), research, countless hours of dissection and odd training routines. The training part I had to exclude from this copy due to space but the other three was definitely include among other things such as a refrigerator, two sinks, a shower and three bedrooms. The three bedrooms are extra open ended pocket dimensions that I formed because the original layout of this place was smaller than I expected. So why I didn't put a training pocket dimension is beyond me at this point.

In the main room was where a majority of activity seem to go on. Instead of couches, there were tables that one would see in a laboratory. The tables were created out of a substance that mimicked marble in appearance but is actually a lost mineral rock formed on a planet that had died maybe 20,000 years ago. On the table were an assortment of beakers, flasks, different sizes and shapes of containers, pilot lights and what appeared to be a half eaten steak on a plate (I didn't have the time to finish all of it and was too much in a rush to even think about throwing it away).

There was another table beside the one with all the beakers that had a sheet covering the body of the creature that Dante had killed. I walk over to it hoping that the sheet that I formed didn't smell like, as Dante put it, a whale's ass. My theory was reassured when I got close and didn't smell the creature from the sheet, though I had some dwindling thoughts on how the smell would affect my laboratory.

"And you said you are an investigator." Dante seemed bemused by it all as his eyes shifted left and right across the entire room. He would see more beakers and containers filled with odd color fluids and dissected hands from what appeared to be animals that he couldn't recognize. He would think me as a witch if I didn't answer.

"More so an investigator as I am a scientist. I like to delve deep into the mysteries of the universe seeing that everything about it is so interesting to me." I said this with a bit of gusto and Dante obviously saw this as his expression had that suspicious look of 'oh boy, another nutcase'. I smiled and waved a hand gesturing that this was not the case "I'm a bit passionate about the universe and everything it offers so sorry if I seem a bit-"

"I understand." He nodded his head feigning as if he understood my feelings. He points to the table where the body was "So that's where the creature-err, thing is lying?" I nodded "I suppose you're going to do some dissecting"

"But of course." I said, reaching over to my black and white laboratory and plastic gloves. I put on a face mask and some protective eye wear. I pulled on them to which I release and it made a snapping noise that felt oh so tantalizing. Dante saw me now in my crazy mad doctor mood. "You can exit the room if you want or you can watch me as I cut into him."

"Nah, I think I'll stay. If I get a better understanding of what these creatures are then I can kill them off quicker than I did tonight." He pulled up a chair and sat down on the reverse side "Cut away you crazy son of a gun."

And so I did. I removed the sheet off the creature. The stench immediately filled the space of the room and I saw Dante wave a hand at his nose making grimacing faces at first. I knew I would get use to the stench after awhile, and being the person that I am, it wouldn't bother me. I proceeded to remove the cloak off the creature, placing it in one of the disposal cans and I grasped one of the scalpels. I first started at the head-

It took me maybe two hours before I was done making my detail analysis of the creature. I had opened this bad boy up like a Christmas present, a precise and careful one at that. When I first started cutting, I noticed how hard it was to cut into the flesh. It wasn't like anything close to demon, although demon skin was difficult to pierce at first, this one was far tougher than that. I had to change the type of scalpel after seeing that my first attempt to cut wasn't even cutting through the epidermis layer. I traded in my human piercing scalpel for a more universal one that had the ability to adapt in sharpness. This thing was a beauty, I have to say, never needing to sharpen or clean it. It cleaned itself and as I said, it increased in sharpness the harder it is to cut.

I controlled the instrument down and began my way into cutting through the creature. Fifteen minutes in, I was already towards the chest where I took notice of the two hearts the creature had. I removed them with care and placed them in a separate bowl in which I labeled for each organ. The abdominal region was next, and then by the second half of the procedure I had cut to the lower part of its shin. I was bit amazed by the way this creature was design saying "interesting" and "not something you see everyday" underneath my breath.

Time in during my cutting, I glanced over at my associate watching me. He looked a tad bit intrigued at first but then lost interest. During the two hours I had dissected, he went to the bathroom, went through my refrigerator, went out of the apartment and came back with a large pizza "Everything on it but olives. I hate olives." He said with a mouthful of pizza. The place now smelled like decaying creature and pizza. Those two things combined-well, it wasn't exactly springtime summer daffodil scent in the room.

By the time I was done, I placed the scalpel down on the table and removed my gloves placing them in the trash. I took off my lab coat and sat down on a stool wiping the sweat off my brow.

"Not gonna wash your hands?" Dante asked

I looked and saw there was no visible sign of the decease. "I didn't hear you wash your hands after you use the bathroom. You didn't see me complain about that."

"Well that's different." Dante said defensively

"In what way?"

"That thing is dead man. All I did was took a piss"

"Yet you trusted my bathroom to be sparkling clean?"

Dante didn't reply to that one. He turned a head, now agitated by the logic I made. "Well now that I'm done," I said, changing the subject "I believe I can make a proper assumption as to what it is that creature is. I haven't been able to study the thing because every place I tried to get a corpse they were either removed from the scene or I couldn't get anywhere close."

"What you find out?"

"Well would you like me to say it in laymen's terms or scientific." Dante made a look that obviously said laymen's. No one ever picks the scientific approach "It ain't human." Dante's 'no shit' came to light but I ignored it "But it isn't demon either. It does have the physiology of a demon from what I gather. And yet," I gestured to Dante "Well, you sensed it yourself when you killed the thing that it didn't have a demonic aura nor a human one. Hell, nothing about it can even say that it was half breed. All I can gather from it was that it was created, formed perfectly by someone who probably has a god-complex.

"The creature was design to kill. That went without saying. It's muscle design, nerve response, digestion system had in some way to kill the target. You didn't hear the blood as it came out, the blasted thing began to eat away at my scissors that I was using. That made me very careful when I was cutting into the skin because the moment the blood would catch on anything it would begin to eat away at it. What this probably means that if someone was to perhaps stab them or get at them at close range, the moment the blood spills on them it would begin to tear away at the opponent."

"Good thing I shot them" Dante said, showing his relief.

I nodded "It really was a good thing. It would probably explain why their skin was tough. Their skin is surprisingly durable and if a human were to have this type of blood, they would've melted away in a matter of minutes. Not only was it tough internally but externally as well. Any normal bullets would've bounced off it. Your bullets and probably armor piercing bullets would be wise to have in your arsenal if you come across them. It would be best to avoid close combat."

"Well that may be a bit hard to do seeing that these things have a fighting style that is close ranged. I guess if they do come close I'll have to use the good ole' blade" he tapped the hilt of the long claymore on his back.

"If you do engage, try to aim to do precision cuts rather than cuts that'll cause a mess. You'll be hurting for sure regardless of your abilities."

"I plan on it." Dante then had a sudden look of realization "Those creatures were surprisingly fast. My eyes caught them appearing and reappearing when they were charging at me. It was happening when they were charging at me straight but when they try to move or curve, it was ineffectual."

I had a thoughtful hand on my chin. "This may explain why their muscular system is design in such a way. They are surprisingly full of fast twitch muscle and are on the very low spectrum of the slow twitch part. The bones are quite durable in itself but the joints were the weakest out of its structure. Their joints probably aren't accustomed to the twist and turns at high level of speeds and if they were to try it, the damage would surely break apart a bone." I could see already that Dante had come to the same conclusion "That could be used as an advantage."

Dante nodded content with that answer but I saw he had one more question. I gestured him to ask it "You said these things were created by someone. What makes you say that?"

It took a moment for me to actually answer that one. It was one of few theories I had about this thing the moment I saw it on the pavement. I gave the best answer that I could "It was a downright assumption at first. When I dissected it and found that it was not human or demonic in origin, I had to find other conclusions on the matter. I was subjected to it being alien yet none of the structures of this being could be considered alien. At the very least, the organs, structure and entire physiology of the creature was that of a modified human. And that's more of a loose term."

"Or a modified demon."

"That too."

"All right, so it has a high chance of being created by someone. If that's so then why didn't it like evaporate or burst into flames or turn into a beetle or something?"

I was ready to speak, my mouth open yet at a loss of words when it suddenly occur to my recollection of the information about the creatures. Whenever someone tried to pry into these creatures, the coroner trying an attempt that I had successfully done, the creature would then proceed to burn away almost immediately not even leaving ashes in its wake. I could see why there was the use of the failsafe so that creator's research wouldn't be discovered. Yet the one he found didn't even burn. It was in good, albeit shot up condition when he found it.

"Maybe he fucked up." I shrugged, coming with no intellectual rant with that question.

Dante didn't seem to mind it. Or rather, he didn't really care for that matter. I believe his intentions was to Find A because A was causing harm to B. The man had simple intentions and I can see that was the case because of his youth. "Well, he sounds like a helluva of a party pisser." He gets up from the chair and stretches his arms and let out a loud and heavy yawn "Damn, what time is it."

I looked at the clock. It was 4:30 in the morning. I didn't need to sleep, the whole spawn of The Endless la-de-da and habblah. I guess it's like what my mother does when she decides to sleep 'Because I can' she would say in her sweet voice.

"Time for us to get some shut eye. Long day ahead of us later on today so I suggest we get on with that sleep."

"Aye aye captain" Dante mocking saluted and said in a French accent. He left for the bathroom and I heard the shower go on

"And don't waste all the hot water dammit!" I look down and I see that he left the pizza, two slices left, in the box. Then there was a sudden horror that I realized that Dante had accidently stepped in the pizza. I saw the boot trail lead up to the bathroom and saw that there was a red boot stain on one of the independent carpets. Son of a-

* * *

><p>Both Dante and I went into separate rooms, him on the far corner by the kitchen and me where the bathroom was. I lie down on my bed and stare up at my ceiling. There was a slow, bubbling noise in the background that was one of the beakers slowly boiling a never-ending liquid. It was therapeutic to me, helping me rest easy and go to sleep letting sleep blanket it over me. The feeling was a warm, almost sweet feeling. It had been a long time, a very long time since I've had actually felt the comforts of sleep. I wondered why I had not done so to begin with.<p>

Then I remembered.

That sensation dissipated immediately after sleep had taken me. My mind was no longer in the realm of the universe I was in. I could sense even before my eyes could clear that I was in the realm of the dreaming.

I thought I had forced my way in or that my uncle forced me to be in the realm of the dreaming. I entered into my uncle's realm suddenly concluding that this wasn't the case. It was as if I was already invited to come into his realm. I was inside the castle no doubt, and I could see the images beginning to form as I was standing in a large expanding room where there was one window that overlooked all of the dreaming. I walk over to it and I was immediately overwhelmed with the nostalgia of this place. I saw the sky was a midnight blue, stars up in the skies that were glistening. I remembered my uncle explaining to me how the stars in this realm were sleeping whenever I had a chance to see them. When it was morning and the stars had dissipated, some remained asleep while others awoke. I thought it was just some childish thing my uncle told me when I was younger. It was not until he showed me the dreams of the stars that I began to see how this place was something to be in awe of.

The dreaming was definitely a realm that I once-I still called a home. It was a place where my ideals began to shape into an infinite abyss where I wanted to learn more, achieve more, become something better than I had ever dreamed of. It was a place where stories were brought and stored and my mind sought them out like a hunger that couldn't be suppressed. Looking out over the ledge reminded me of such. I turned and I saw a man who was no taller than me, dressed in a porcelain white get up that I imagined it resembling something a Jedi master would be accustom to. Looking at him, his face was almost as white as his attire minus the eyes which seemed hollowed in appearance. I had trouble deciphering if it was close to the old Dream's eyes or not.

"Uncle," I said, with an interested look on my face. "Did you call me to your realm?" I had to ask, I wasn't too sure if he did or if because the laws of this universe.

"I did." The young yet ancient Endless spoke. I was still adjusting to my new uncle. He was Morpheus yet not Morpheus. The phrase was that the idea of the former was dead and a new ideal has come to life. "I sensed my magic was being used."

Ah cripes, I wasn't expecting him to find me out so quickly. The magic that I used on the entire apartment complex would've gone unnoticed if it was maybe two or three people. An entire tenant, especially used by yours truly, and Dream was apt to find out about it. He didn't seem to be infuriated by the use, however. He strangely appeared concern, his face peering into mine with a slight diminutive perplex look.

"No one gave you the bad news?"

"I'm aware that the universes are falling away. The stars in the Sunless Lands are beginning to flicker out; the dreams of universes disappearing from my view. I called you here in order to see rest my suspicion."

I was a bit bemused by Dream. I had come to conclude, early during my travels in the Sunless Lands, that the Endless did not partake in the disappearance of the universes. My conclusion was swiftly pummeled by Dream's small assessment. I shouldn't of been hasty in my decision "Yes," I said mildly. I leaned against the ledge of the balcony. "I have made it my job to stop this from happening."

"Without asking anyone from The Endless to support you?" Dream said, giving me a questioning look. I suppose there were some things that made it obvious that he had the 'young and experience' sticker labeled on his forehead. I commended him for trying to make it simple for me.

"I wish I could. Destiny can only watch from his garden and read the events taking place. My mother could help me, but I believe if she did try then all the focus would be towards one universe than all of them." That statement held some truth to it. I didn't want to endanger my mother, regardless of her status as the personification of death; a son doesn't put her mom in danger.

"Desire and Despair I have doubted through the beginning of this trip of asking for their powers due to them possibly thinking it is game, especially Desire. Delirium-well, everyone knows Delirium." Dream looked at me, nodding his head in understanding but his eyes still held its fix at me. I rubbed the back of my hair, my finger twisting into one of my dreadlocks "I guess I didn't think about asking you." I paused. I felt like a kid asking their parent's permission to go to the school dance "Do you want to help me?"

Dream didn't speak at the moment. He instead gestured me to follow him and as he walked away, I followed suit. We left his chamber and out into the corridors. The place was well lit by white flames that illuminated the entire path. For a place that almost lacked electricity and electrical wires, the place didn't even seem dark to me. We walked for a short while till Dream stopped at a black wooden door. He opened it up and gestured me in. I walked in and saw that it was a small, almost office-like study room. It was stuff of rooms in stories where there was a man, or a professor or an evil villain would sit in a chair behind a desk. Dream walked over to the desk and leaned down.

His hand pulled out a drawer and pulled out what looked to be a amulet. I already knew what it was and the look on my face must've been pure surprise. He walked over it to me, my palm already open, and placed it in my hand. I could feel the energy almost ride on top and through my arm. It felt invigorating to the touch as if it was alive.

"I read through an old journal of mine that I almost forgotten existed. I kept it during the time when you were a small child and the realm of the dreaming was young as well. I had found an interesting passage that spoke of you and your abilities to-assimilate with things of power."

"Well," I said, trying to find my words for this one. Assimilate wasn't the word I would've used. I had the ability to identify the power and let it course through my body and mind. My body would then act according, having full mastery over said item. "I call it Adaption Sync."

Dream nodded "This is a sample of my power. If what you say is true, then you shouldn't have any problems in wielding this item."

I placed the gem into my pocket, knowing full well that putting it in my pocket in the dreaming would also place it in the waking. Dream sat down in the chair, folding his hands and having a wan smile on his face "I suppose this is where I say 'Let's talk'."

"Talking is good. Talking gets people somewhere. Though, I wouldn't know what to talk about."

"I do. I understand that the universes are in danger of disappearing forever. Understanding that would put the Endless in a conundrum." I showed a bit of my contempt through my eyes, hoping it didn't show on my face. He continued "I can only imagine what Destiny spoke of when you brought the issue to him. But I can theorize that his answer somewhat satisfied you in a way."

Somewhat satisfied-I suppose that was the right words for the answer given. Dream had to have seen into my mind the way I was feeling about this, my mind not wanting to go at it alone and knowing that doing it alone meant uncertainty. I had thought over the course of my existence that I was unreadable. That façade melted away.

My silence made Dream continue, his face still thoughtful as he spoke "I imagined that, when Destiny saw this pattern, he was on his way to call a meeting of The Endless. Doing so would cause great discussion amongst us as to whether or not it would wise to enter into a conflict with an unknown enemy. In other words, should The Endless go to war?"

"Would you?" I asked plainly "If that meeting were to happen, would you have decide take on a weapon and be ready to war with an enemy that could end The Endless?"

Dream's face didn't lose its thoughtfulness, it only deepen into complete contemplation. When he spoke, his voice had a different inflection to it, something that said he was holding something back. "I believe that, in the past, I would've jumped to the conclusion of war if all of my brothers and sisters would join but," he paused, looking doubtful "Seeing that it could potentially destroy the personification of what we represent, if all of us were not going to join-"I saw what he was aiming to say.

"Jumping into it wildly would be unlike you guys and without knowing what to do, the chances would be on the dangerous side." Dream nodded "I see," I said, now seeing the reasons behind Destiny's vague answer. "Heh, well things just got a bit interesting to say the least. Guess you giving me a slight of your power would help me fight these bastards." I smiled, the eagerness of my younger self showing through "I suppose I can reason with that. Do you think anyone else of the family would help?"

"I'm not sure about the answers of my brothers and sisters. You would have to ask them, and no doubt convince them to lend you their power. You have mine own power and speck of your mothers."

Well I had to start somewhere. "All I have to do now is convinced the stoic Destiny, the maddening Delirium, the hollow Despair, the deceptive Desire and find Destruction." I rubbed my temples "I just love our family."

"It was never going to be easy, young one. I ask you to keep safe during your travels."

I thanked him for his kind words. The space around me began to darken and I knew that I was beginning to wake up. I saw Dream moving further and further away from my field of vision. His distance caused something to realize within me and I knew, before I even spoke, that it would not of reached him . "Wait, Dream." I shouted it out but I heard it as a whisper. I was out of the realm of dreams and back in the company of my own mind.

I didn't have a chance to say what I wanted. When I woke, the question was still flying in my head. I had wanted to ask him how could I contact my family if I am unable to travel through the sunless lands to do so. I looked over at my clock and saw that it was 9:36 in the morning, the rays of sunlight dimmed in through the crack of the curtains. I rose off from the bed and shifted my legs so they touch my floor. I rubbed one eye, actually rubbing the sleep out of it. I suppose it didn't matter if I asked my question or not, I had a feeling he wouldn't of answered it.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

There it was again, Dante felt the lucidity of this dream remaining as he woke. He opened his eyes, then closing it against feeling the sun nearly blind him. He rolled off on the far end of the bed to avoid the light of the sun coming in. He opened his eyes then and blinked. He had felt the sudden heat of anger run in his blood for just a moment before passing off and sighing passively.

The same dream of him, clashing blades with his brother, feeling that drive of wanting to stop his brother from falling farther than he could save him. Vergil, his Katana, Yamato, clashing fiercely with his Rebellion Claymore. His blades, his devil arms he had collected during his crusade and his words had every intent to reach his brother in time to halt his brother's ambitions. Even if it didn't seem to break into his brother's indomitable spirit, he had to stop him, even if it meant killing him.

But he failed to even do that. His brother had decided to stay in the realm of hell, and he was the one to return to the human world. Him stepping back, breathlessly chuckling and holding on his wounds and Dante saw what he was about to do. He felt that he could've grabbed him, could've grabbed onto Vergil's coat and pulled him for falling. Vergil had swung his blade, cutting into his hand, holding his hand there in place just long enough for him to fall into the abyss of hell. The blade didn't hurt him, a bit at the time, but it left a mark on him that seem to have etched into his dreams. He thought that he would get stronger out of it all realizing that his brother chose his fate. It was his brother's decision, not his own.

It was a sickly defeat, not a single thing about Vergil's defeat he could even cherish about. It only brought sick memories

It still haunts him. It had been awhile since he dreamt the dream and all those emotions of guilt, anger, and sadness rushed back and flood the gates of his mind yet again. He cocked his head to the side, turning away from the light and slowly closed his eyes again. He prayed that he didn't dream this time, not wanting to relive the memory again. Mercy struck him as he only dreamt of darkness.

He woke up four hours later. He was expecting his eyes to be blinded further by the light seeing that the time he woke was around ten in the morning. To his surprise, the blinds had been twisted down and the curtains (was their curtains before?) had been drawn over it. It was semi-dark in the room. He suspected that Dime had been in the room and made sure he was comfortable. Odd, he never had a client who was concern for the conformability of his well being. This guy in general was an odd one to be honest.

Dante attracted the usual guys who wanted rid of the pesky demons that roam the cities and could potentially endanger the world, again. They come in the shady types of different shapes and sizes that would usually end up on the wrong end of Dante, sometimes the politicians in order to look better during their campaign, and of course the charitable man or woman who Dante didn't ask for pay just for the satisfaction of the world being safe again. Dime was different. He didn't think the case was odd; a bunch of baddies in town with intention of killing humans wasn't what made him suspicious. It was the character of Dimes that seem, well off. From the get go, the feeling of Dime as being off from him sitting down on the stool, talking to him and discussing the problem. When all of it was said and done, Dante didn't think of it then but now… Dante couldn't find a word to match the entire essence of Dimes but off seem to be the word he was looking for.

He didn't have an exact reason, could be the mercenary instinct running through him. Dante would just have to accept that he was an off character for now and just keep on assisting him. He couldn't decline pay that ensured him the funds needed for the revival of his shop. If he remembered correctly from last night, there was also mention of extra pay on this case. Payment was good, get a little extra, those two add up for instant cooperation. It was that fleeting emotion that made it all the more apprehensive. Still, money is money and he was running low on it. He couldn't pass off every offer because of a fleeting suspicion. You had to take some chances, right? He sat up off the bed and proceeds to the bathroom where he showered and groomed himself for the day.

He opens the door of his room, holding his jacket over his shoulder. He sees Dime over by the table that was covered in beakers and saw that he was tinkering with some metal cube. His hair was tied back and he appeared to wear a headset that had magnifying glasses over one eye. He appeared to have small cauterizing mechanisms in his hands, and when he touch the cube, the cube grove designs would light a dim color blue and sparks would fly out of the spot Dime was melding.

Dante caught Dime's attention but Dime remain steadfast on the cube "Did you have a good night's sleep?" Dime's asked, his eyes fixated on the cube.

"Uh, yeah." Dante said, feeling embarrassed not sure why he was "Thank you for darkening the room."

"No problem. Thought you would need the extra sleep. The day ahead may be busy for us so I wanted you to be fully rested." Dante noticed that his hands were covered in an assortment of rings, all different sizes and shapes. He had a wristband that had the same symbol as the one on his shirt, the one with the looped cross. Did he even change the shirt he wore last night? Dante couldn't question seeing that he rarely changes himself. "I was thinking about waking you at eleven but then I remembered this little chap that I made awhile back."

"What is it?" Dante saw Dime turn his head; the excitement in his eyes was almost child-like. His eyes were wide then slowly slit in a teasing fashion.

"Let's say it's one that can contain our little friends if we encounter them today. If the opportunity strikes, containing these bad boys might give us a better understanding of them. Dissection is one way of doing it but a live sample is better."

"And use for interrogation." Dante said, having a widening smile grip his lip.

Dime smiled too "That too. I have a feeling that they speak in a way that is similar to how dolphins speak. The ways their throats are design are similar. I imagine that we'll have to bring a translator with us."

"You have a gadget for that?"

"I have plenty of toys for that. The question now is: Where would be a good place for them to come after us? I'm sure by now, they got to be thinking that you may be a threat and will send more after you."

"Tch" Dante smirked "They're asking for an early funeral."

"Perhaps" Dime sat up from the stool "But I don't want to jump in without at least trying to interrogate. Well if not, "Dime took the gadget off his face and turned to Dante "it'll be one hell of a workout."

Dante always had a "Kill first, ask questions maybe" attitude which made him a bit on the low end when it came to interrogating. Dime had a "ask questions depending on the situation, then if shit hits the fan just kill.' attitude. Dante was suspicious of the guy but he could say, at the very least, that he had his sense of style.

Dante went back into his room grabbing both Ebony and Ivory and Rebellion. Dime had let loose the tie that was around his hair. Dante was going to ask if he had a weapon or not but he had his reasons in thinking that this guy didn't seem like the swordsmen type. "All right, where do we start?" Dante's question was answered when a shadow had darkened the entire apartment. Both Dante and Dime looked at the window and saw large hand moving its way to them. Both of them thought and said the exact same thing.

"Fuck me."

The hand from the enormous creature drew itself away from the building. His hand was pulling brick and mortar from the entire complex dropping it down on the street where it crashed on a few cars. Most of the residents in the apartment had left for work but the landlady heard and felt every single thing that happen to the complex. She was sitting in her sofa chair, reading a magazine for the latest fashion for this season. She had picked out a nice one that would definitely draw attention to her legs. She always liked her legs to be shown even when she was younger and her legs were in their prime, she would show them off frequently. Her thoughts all broke when the apartment shook. Earthquake? That was the first thought that came to mind but then she realized that they were far from the vault lines here.

She got up from her chair and walk briskly to her door. She was on the first floor of the complex and when she opened it, she saw that the entire entranceway was gone, completely in ruins as the lobby had caved in. She saw the second floor tenants room, Mr. Sawyer was his name, couch that was split in half by a sharp piece of metal that probably came from the third floor. Which room it was she hadn't a clue. She wanted to move forward, had to find a way to get out. Then her eyes caught a glimpse of the long, powerful legs of the creature that was standing outside her complex. All the sudden, she felt her legs a give in.

The creature, reptilian in appearance, from his lizard like head down to its muscular torso, legs and arms, had roared fierce up in the air. It shouted out, a name of all things, into the open air "DANTE!" it said in a raspy, snakish voice. It looked down, shocked at what it saw. It could feel the sting and burn of bullets penetrate at its head. It let out a loud cry and took a giant step back. It's back rammed into one of the buildings, and the lizard grabbed onto its snout.

"Sorry. You go straight to the action without foreplay?" Dante witted out "You have a terrible idea for a first date." He turned to Dimes; he was dusting off his shoulder and shirt with one hand. He saw in the other a ring that was glowing a feint blue light slowly diminishing in brightness before it settled back into the metal ring on his pinky "Nice save. I owe you."

Dimes, more annoyed by the look on his face, pointed to the lizard creature "I had intended on keeping this damn place functional. Seems they want your head and not mind." The creature was gaining its balance and let out another fierce roar at them both. Dimes took a foot and rested it on one of the overturned tables. He pointed incredulously at the creature "Hey asshole, I put a lot of thought into this fucking place." His accusing finger turned into a fist. "I plan on opening you up once I'm done breaking you in two."

Dante was getting the feeling that the guy was going a bit over his head on this one. He understand that he was annoyed, it would be far to say that he was mad that his place had been crushed in by a giant Godzilla looking creature at 1:30 in the afternoon on a Tuesday. He probably had mementos and items that he saw was valuable and this creature so happen to destroy it. And yes, he placed up a force field to protect them from getting crushed themselves. But Dante could see that this guy didn't know how to fight, doesn't know how to throw a fist even and yet he was talking like he was planning on giving the beat down of his life.

That was how he thought it until Dimes leapt forward, leapt was an understatement, he dashed straight forward creating a small boom behind him as he missile to the creature. The creature didn't have time to react fast enough to shield itself from the blow that looked devastating.

Dime's fist rammed itself into the creature's solar plexus. He could hear the creature let out an breathless gasp and its head went back and so did the rest of the beast as it fell on its back and onto the building. Dime came to a landing on the street. Dante had jumped over the debris of the room and onto the edge of the apartment's end. He peered down at the street and saw Dime just hitting his fist into his palm.

Dante couldn't help to say this, there was a phrase that came to mind, it always lingered in his mind for the right moment to dawn on him and now it had come. It was his chance to say it. He had always wanted to say this to someone who wasn't demon. "You mad?"

"No, I'm absolutely _fucking_ livid" Dimes replied, not at all sounding livid. Dante didn't expect less from this reaction. "I ain't paying you stand around and watch. You better help me fuck this creature up."

Dante cocked a smile. This guy was far from suspicious, he just seem out right nutty. Deep in his mind, hidden from his facial expression, he was beginning to like Dimes. He leapt from the building and jumped down onto the street. Rebellion was already drawn and he was beginning to access through the devil arms he had collected almost a year ago. He wondered which one he was going to pick.

Oh so many options, so many options to kick someone's ass.

* * *

><p>The Cleaner's team had reassembled themselves back at their headquarters down deep in the underground world of New York City. They had made a good impression on Lady when she had joined up for her first mission in the big apple. She had to map her way through the underground jungle, hoping not to get lost for The Cleaner's had said to her on the flight to New York that getting lost meant death to her. She obviously didn't disappoint.<p>

Veronica and Lady had made their way into the headquarters just an hour before Marcus and Jean had come hauling a large amount of equipment and what appeared to be a body bag. Veronica had begun to scorn the large man, rubbing her temples and saying that she wasn't planning on raising her voice (she did) and still pointing out that this was a scout mission.

Marcus calmly disagreed, debating that a scout mission can turn out to be a warzone in a matter of seconds. It was comedic seeing the large, six foot eight man who weighed maybe 260 pounds of life and muscle speak calmly to a red-headed woman who probably weighed half his size and weighed no bigger than a twig. His argument, a well thought out one no less, was his experience in combat for the past twenty-five years had made him only cautious about situations dealing with demonic forces. It was an issue of preparedness and caution with the big guy.

Veronica had retorted back, her voice coming to a steady yell instead of a raising volume yell that the cost of such ammunition would affect them in the long run. The plan was simply to have him, Marcus, have just a few assault rifles and a sniper on hand with bullets that were given 'the works' (it consisted of materials that were dangerous towards demons. There was a list of the bullets received: holy water, blessed bullets by shaman, priest, rabbi or what The Cleaners could hire at the time, etc) and have Jean spot for him. The need to waste all of that money is not suitable in the eyes of the cleaners Veronica had said.

Lady had sat down, her hand holding up her head as she watched the two argue more about protocol and morality. Jean pulled up a chair beside Lady and leaned back watching the fiasco with her.

"Do they do this all the time?" Lady asked Jean.

Jean smiled "I would say that these arguments have been going on since Marcus found out his wife was pregnant. Before, he wasn't all like this. Bold, yeah, but he didn't do some of the things he does now." Jean's eyes fell down on Lady, whose attention was still on Marcus and Veronica. She had since slipped off her combat uniform and replaced it with more casual clothing. She wore a collared shirt, stainless white that had risen up from her waist and he could see the shapely abs she has. She wore black leather pants that hugged her thighs. Jean liked what he saw. Lady turned back to him, her almost catching Jean looking at her with lust. He had turned just a half second before she could reasonably slap her "Veronica is just all tense," Jean was continuing "because she is getting some shit from the head honcho back at main. I don't blame her for being all tense the way she is, I was surprised that she lasted so cool for so long. Both of their personalities are just clashing at this point."

"Hmmm" was the only thing that Lady said about it all before she changed the subject "Was that large body bag that Marcus was carrying the creature I shot?" she asked delighted by the feeling of shooting the creature down.

"Yes" he answered "I was planning on dissecting and make an analysis on it by tomorrow. Needless to say, I won't be getting any sleep tonight knowing our boss wanting us to give him a formal report by tomorrow also."

"He seems like the stern type" _although not as stern as Vergil _

"Indeed he is a hardass" Jean expressed "There is never a good side with him. I determine it's either a bad side and a worse side and our group is on the worse end of the spectrum." He points to Veronica, her one hand was on her hip while the other hand was pointed at Marcus accusingly "She's the niece of the boss, don't tell her I said that to you." He said that in a fast whisper "She has these high expectations that her father, the former boss of The Cleaners, had and will go to great lengths to fulfill them."

So a woman with daddy issues, where has Lady heard that one before? She had a small spot of sympathy for her supervisor viewing her situation would be stressful. She wasn't, however, giving her the full present of said sympathy knowing that Veronica's uncle didn't have plans on murdering her for the sake of obtaining the demonic equivalent of god on earth. Once she got that ball rolling, then she can fully complain about how her family was being a hard ass.

Marcus seemed to have waved his hands in the air in surrender of this argument and walked past her, bumping her shoulder into Veronica. She nearly fell over but slid a foot back to regain her balance. "Don't you walk away from this!" she yelled out. Marcus ignored her, opening the door to another room and slamming it shut. It was like seeing a hard break up. She let out a sound that expelled how unnerved she was. She turned to Jean and Lady. Both looked at each other, taken back by the silence of it all. They could feel that tension lingering in the room, and from the looks of it, the tension was coming directly off of Veronica. "I want a report later today" she said, now walking away towards another part of the room. Jean could've sworn on his mother's grave that the room smelled like ozone. "I will be in my quarters." She paused, letting the door slide open before walking ahead with the doors shutting behind her.

Jean let out a held in breath "I thought she was going to explode" his voice was still at a whisper.

"She was." Lady said, her hands folded on herself as she looked at nothing with a calculated glare "If we would've said something at that moment, I wouldn't be surprised to see fist throwing."

"What makes you so sure?"

"You didn't notice?" Jean shook his head and Lady sighed at this "And you're supposed to be a spotter. How can you say you if you can't pay attention to detail?"

Jean shrugged, unregretful "I can spot the smallest branch breaking off from a tree a mile away. I can see the faintest twitch off a man that can determine if he is trigger happy or just plain nervous. When it comes to women," he raised a quick eyebrow and gestures his hands out "I'm completely clueless."

Lady held up one knowledgeable finger "She missed the trembling of her arm. It was slight, unnoticeable even but it was there and controlled. She was doing more of it when she was arguing with Marcus" She puts up a second finger "Her eyes were eager for us to have say something, it didn't have to be witty or have anything to do with the mission. She was waiting to shout, ready to yell. The moment we didn't let that satisfy her, she just gave us the order to give a report by tomorrow. She was also tired, both physically and mentally. How many hours do you think she's slept over the passing weeks?"

Jean reached deep in his memory trying to find a good answer for this. He recollected those two weeks ago, she appeared opaque, not entirely aware of her surroundings. He could argue that she was juicing herself with some sort of stimulant of some kind, natural or unnatural. Tonight she seemed find and ready for action, but now she was at base, that energy soon dwindled.

"Yeah, that was something I noticed at first but I had no idea the stress of the work was getting to her that deep."

"It must be, she's showing the obvious signs of a breakdown. You should be at least alert with this." Jean turned his head away, showing a flash of shame in his eye. Lady sighed and changed her hand for her head to rest on. "Don't let it eat you. Sometimes it's hard to say something while other times, saying something may also be just as dangerous. You just got to find the right moment. Kind of like sniping once you think about it."

Jean turned to face Lady, his eyes peering at the blue eye which seems distant and distracted. She twists her head, surprising Jean and winked a smile at him "Well, this report isn't going to do itself. Why don't I help you with it? Or are you the solo type?"

"I don't mind the company." He murmured and whispered a smile "I'll need someone to write notes down as I make the report on the creature. I have to determine the type of breed and species of demon."

"Sounds boring." Lady said plainly. Jean looked doleful at first before Lady nudged him on the arm "I'm still interested in the demon I shot. I want to know all about it next time I come across them." She pushed away from the table and got up from the chair "Coming?"

* * *

><p>"Ten against two" Dante told Dime, back to back to each with Rebellion in one hand and Ebony in the other "I have to say, the odds are in our favor." Dante's response was met with a grunt, a sarcastic one at that, and a jingling of rings "I feel like kicking all of their asses but you seem to want in on this action."<p>

"I intend on taking their blood for smashing in my work. It will be then paid in full."

Dante grinned wolfishly "Damn, you're the type that don't fuck around. Wouldn't want to get on your bad side."

"Trust me, this isn't my bad side. You wouldn't want to see that."

The large Godzilla like monster had regained itself just a few moments before, wincing at the pain before lowering its head to Dante's and Dimes height and let out an dangerous roar at point blank. Both of them stood there, letting the shock wave from the war, the harshness of its breath and the wads of saliva move past it. They both looked unimpressed and they both sighed unanimously. Both of them cocked a fist back, both of them shouting "Shut up!" and launching a devastating uppercut into the creature's lower jaw. The combined strength of the two had lifted the creature off its feet. It let out a sharp yelp and landed on its back causing the ground underneath them to shake.

Both of them dusted off their hands. Dante pulled out his claymore and spun in a few times in his hand. Dimes grabbed his fist and begins cracking his knuckles, the latter seeming to have cold, feral eyes. Didn't he want to capture the thing? He thought that is what he said, maybe he heard that wrong.

"So how you want to do this?" Dante asked, assuring that that was what Dime wanted to do "I could cut him up into little pieces. Makes dissection easier."

"I don't think I can dissect something that big unless I have a big place to lay it down." Dimes began to rotate his shoulder and crack the one side of his neck "I'll examine it as I start beating it-" the creature had begun to shudder. Both Dante and Dime stopped as they saw the creature begin to glow an ominous purple light. They both could see the skin of the thing begin-to boil. Boil didn't seem like the right word to use but the skin was bubbling up like water would boiling. The creature had begun making incessant, loud roaring sounds that began to sharpen in note. Dante heard something odd from the creature. Something he wasn't expecting at first. It was laughing. The laugh was mixing in with the roaring of its voice.

"I didn't know getting punched in the chin was something funny" Dante said, spinning Rebellion in his hand again "Maybe cutting you up will be a comedy goldmine for you."

"No" the large creature bellowed. The creature seem to have a heavy Irish accent. Its laughter was that heavy, bold voice that boom that old demons have yet underneath that was the Irish. It was still laughing, although it came to a muffled chuckle underneath his voice. Dante thought that he was hearing things but it sounded as if there was a voice underneath the voice speaking. That voice was the one doing the chuckling. "It's just, I haven't felt this much pain in such a long time. Indeed, I find that fighting the young son of Sparda would bring some difficulty to my existence." Its voice was low, not animalistic as both Dante and Dime was expecting. It has a low, almost seductive tone. It stood itself up, using the buildings as to regain its balance "After finding your scent, I had to see if you were the real son of Sparda and not some fake. After you punched me, I knew full well that I was dealing with a demon."

"Half-devil," Dante corrected "and I'll be honest. You could've just asked to die rather than ruin this guy's apartment. I'm sure I could've schedule in somewhere in my weekly appointments."

Dime didn't seem to hear any of this. "Split apart creature" he said "I know you can. You were just about to when you were bubbling up so do it now. Can't fight us when you're so confined, it would be foolish on your part."

"I have no quarrel with you boy-" he seem to retract, looking at Dime with a mindful glare-well as mindful a ancient demon could gather-and grin showing all the sharp, human piercing teeth "You are far older than you appear. Much older than many of my kind that have existed in this realm. I wonder if you are a demon…or a god of some sort."

Dante turned an eye to Dime. He looked at the giant creature with his arms folded, and Dante saw no sign of waver in his eyes.

The creature extended his hands and bent them; growing out the sharp claws he had "No matter. If I kill you and the son of Sparda, I'll be legendary. I'll feast upon your power and gain what I want."

Dante let out a very unnerved sigh. He put a finger into his ear and began to dig "God, I should start counting the ways you devils decide to threaten me. I think that's the 127th time some low life demon decided they were cocky enough to fight me. I might as well be wearing a sign saying 'I'm the son of Sparda, please fight' around my back because clearly I want to hear this every day."

Dime didn't seem to have the patience for this anymore. He put a hand up and gesture him to come "Split apart you pseudo-Godzilla."

"As you wish!" it shouted. The creature skin began to bubble again. This quickly changed from his outer skin to the inner layers of his body where muscle, organs, and all those other good qualities that make up the body began to bubble. Dante was reminded of how milk curdles up when lemon is added into the mix. The milk just turns sour and all the proteins just seem to clump together. The demon had clumped itself together then untangled into separate selves. The creature was originally fifty feet tall, now they were sized down to a mere seven feet of itself in a smaller version. There were ten of them altogether, all of them landing around Dante and Dime surrounding them both, all of them laughing that cold laughter.

Dante and Dime stood back to back. Both of them had a look of readiness in them albeit different in every way. Dante had cocked a smile on his face, licking his lips out the excitement contrasting with Dime who looked expressionless and entirely void of emotion. Both of them looked as if they were about to compete on who was going to kill the most of the ten. Both of them smiled at the same time.

They both charged moving at the opposite direction, Dante going right and Dime going left. The creatures followed suit as five was moving to Dante while the other five moved to Dime.

Two claws on Dime's side were ready to strip him down. Two creatures both roar the same roar, aiming at Dime's head for an instant kill. Dime had jumped up and landed on one of the creatures that had tried to strike him. He quickly had his legs wrapped around the creature's neck and leaned back so that he could flip it down on the ground. The movement was in one go and the speed of it put the large creature's head into the street making a hole where the head had impact. Dime rolled onto his feet and could see one of the demons lunge forward. This superman tactic was met with Dime's jumping over it but the demon had spun itself so its back was to the ground. A long arm grabbed one of Dime's legs. It held on like a vice grip as they both fell to the ground. Two of them were already charging with their claws extended ready to pierce. The one that held onto Dime's had bit down on Dime shoulder now having one hand and one mouth holding him down.

Dime grunted. He felt that sharp, jarring pain in his shoulder for a quick moment. He had his left hand on the creature's stomach and then jolt of bit his will into one of his rings. The demon had a moment of surprise when it felt its entire midsection blown away by some ghastly energy. He had his right hand out and put some will into the ring that had casted the shield earlier. The shield appeared blue and triangular. The claws had only inches to reach before it reached its target only to meet the shield. The claws of the demon shattered into tiny fragments. They let out a howl of pain, just like a person would howl when they chipped a tooth. This gave him a quick distraction to put a bit more will into the shield and in doing so caused the shield to burst sending the two targets back into the building. He tightens his hand into a fist and rammed it into the dead demon whose teeth were still sunk in his flesh. The head did burst with some of the teeth still remaining in.

_So annoying_ he thought pulling out all three of the teeth that were still in. His flesh began to mend itself together, the muscle fibers reattaching to one another, then the skin closed itself up. He looked at the three remaining lizard demons, one let out a hasty roar while the other two were just covering from the trip of the exploding shield. Hand to hand would be effective but the claws had to go. He pulled off a ring on his right index finger and began to form an image in his head. He imagined a katana; a blade he preferred was one that was sharp, too sharp to even be forged by man. The ring glimmered a shining blue transforming into a long, four and a half inch katana with red laced trim around the grip. On the end of it was the signature ankh he had.

He dashed forward, not giving the lizards a moment to recover. The one who had roared was shaken, just a little bit on the cautious side but the other two were the bravest. They were running at him that was impressive to the unskilled and unaware. Dime, however, was neither of these things. He had an advantage, the ability to weave as they weaved. They had moved to the right trying to get at angle but he countered left to keep his distance. When they wanted to move left, he countered moving right. Dime did this purposefully, keeping himself at a distance for a time being. He was somewhat aware that demons usually don't have the fatigue a human does and it wouldn't have done any good to just repeat this step. This was where the cleverness of Dime comes to mind. As they were weaving in a large circle, the creature would weave once to the left and Dime would appear to move to the right and vice versa. Their eyes did not see that Dime had moved an instant before and had moved forward to one or the other demon slashing at their bodies in quick succession. They were small nicks at first, aiming to slow them rather than give aiming to fully incapacitate them. It would've been obvious if he did so and they would've stopped their actions and achieve a different tactic. But this happening during a period of time that only stretched thirty seconds and by the time they were aware that they were receiving damage, it was too late for their reactions were slower, their steps seem to hold some weight in them and they had lost some concentration.

The third one who was standing still decided it was best to join in the fray and charge straight inward after examining what was happening. Dime had expected this and decided to flash behind the creature. The creature immediately sensed his presence and turned to swipe an arm to strike at him. Dime had grinned at this and the creature swung at its torso, it went through air as there was just an afterimage of Dime still mockingly smiling at the demon. A spray of blood shot to the ground and there was stump of an arm bleeding out a good amount of blood. The creature let out a howl of pain and grabbed the stump of an arm in disbelief. Dime was behind the creature, his back turned to it, his blade striking behind and into the creatures back and into its lung. He turned and used both hands to slash outward where it cut through the heart and the left side of its chest. Blood sprayed everywhere in front and the creature fell to the ground limply.

The last two of Dime's group found the hard way of entering into his sight. Even before the two could run at them, Dime took the blade, grasping the handle so that it was handled like a spear and threw it into one of the demon's eyes. The demon made a dying yelp as it went straight back into the brain killing it instantly. The one still alive turned to its fallen doppelganger and turned again to meet with Dime. The realization hit that Dime was gone from view and was underneath him never happen. Dime had punched into the demon's chest, combining with the ring that created that expiration of energy created a hole the size of a volleyball. No sound came out of this demon as it fell over on its back.

Dante's group of demons had a different approach to their deaths which wasn't a surprise if knowing how Dante acts towards his opponents. The group had charged in the same way that the Dime's group. Dante bent and leapt into the air twisting his body mid air, he pulled out Ivory instead of using Rebellion and began to spin and shoot. The creatures felt the burning bullets pelt into them as he hovered over them. It didn't seem to do a great amount of damage to the demons; their tough skins had been reinforced somehow. Whether it was because they separated themselves and with sacrificing in size, they went for durability or through a devil trigger Dante didn't know. He didn't really care, either way.

Dante then 'tricked' back onto the ground seven feet away from the original position. His guns had returned into its holsters and out came a tripartite nunchaku, Cerberus. He spun it around in his hand, elegant and flowing just for being showy. The demons turned themselves around to face Dante. Two charged at him, head on and thoughtlessly.

_Been a while since you used me _The voice of Cerberus, a deep and gruff voice replied _what took you?_

Dante didn't answer, not at first. He had his close eye on the two demons sprinting at such a close distance. "What did I say about talking?" He said striking the ground with the nunchaku and out spiked a long line of ice that hit the two charging demons. They were sent up into the air. Dante tricked up into the air and the nunchaku was replaced with red and blue scimitars, Agni and Rudra, and his arms swung in sporadic movements cutting up the two demons with fire and wind. He could hear out loud the two blades saying "Hells yeah, finally."

"Shut up!" he shouted and he dropped down on the ground where he slammed the two blades on the heavy street leading a trail of fire and wind at the three remaining demons. The three weaved out of the way except for one who was in front. The blazing fire and wind combination ignited on his leg. Dante could hear the demon spewing out curses in its own native tongue. "Too slow!" Dante laughed "Gotta do better than that."

The two demons unscathed decided best to change tactics. Their approach went from charging in to back off. They jumped linear from each other, one moving left while the other moving right, and Dante was in the middle of the both of them. They opened their mouths and released a howling screech that sent waves of screams at Dante. This caused the half-devil to grin as the red and blue scimitars had disappeared and instantaneously formed in his hands a purple guitar. His fingers strung at the strings with inhuman speed that sent an electrical surge upward into the air and then outward in a swift, almost unperceivable speed that came into contact of the left and right demon. The immediate impact sent purple electric currents throughout the beings body,

By this point, Dime had killed off the four of the demons in his group and his fist was due ready to make a hole in the demon's chest. The lizard demon, one that got away with the scathed leg had decided that this battle was lost. He had defeated the others; the ones that supplied him with power had been defeated. To have dealt with the son of Sparda was one thing but this new guy, the one with the locks of hair was powerful in his own right. He feared if he had seen the man's full power. Then the question rises if the man with the locked hair was even human at all.

Dimes and Dante walked over to the remaining demon who was sitting up on one of the buildings, his leg burned down to the muscle. He looked at the two of them.

"How do you think we should kill him?" Dante asked "We could shoot him in the head. Or slice his throat to make it a slow death."

"Oh dear heavens no." Dime said with every bit of his words drenched in sarcasm "We wouldn't want to make it slow. We want to make it really slow. Maybe begin skinning him alive and then slice his throat or maybe do all of the above and then bring him back to life so we can do it all over again." Dime's eye met the demons "Did you really expect to kill my associate and I or did you want to test us?"

The demon let his lips purse into a grin "Perhaps," he said in a suspicious whisper "or perhaps I wanted to test and see whether or not he was the true son of Sparda. And you." His attention went over to Dime "I bit you in the shoulder. It should've been impossible for you to heal. What are you exactly?"

Dime stood still for a moment seemingly wanting to avoid the question. He appeared expressionless but obviously hesitant. "Truly, I am something other than demon." He finally said "I will show you who I am rather than tell you." Dime approached the demon, kneeling down to its level.

"What are you doing?" Dante asked. He grabbed at his shoulder but Dime gave him a reassured look and nod

He looked squarely at him, eye to demonic eye. The demon snarled at Dime but this did not shake the man in anyway. His expression was still, calm like an oceanic breeze. His mind seemed to be off somewhere as if he was searching for something to say. Dante felt a sudden release of energy surging around Dime. Its aura was soft in appearance, a blue and purple color that could be painted onto a canvas. He could feel the aura press on him, relaxing him from the emotions of battle. That raw pleasure that consumes him just disappeared, that adrenaline rush came to a steady slow at first then disappeared entirely. Dante eyes shift to the demon. His entire aura had change significantly from aggressive kill intent to the same aura that passed out of Dime. The creature head began to swivel before its body was beginning to fade away.

"Looks like you won" It smiled sheepishly "It seems I bit more than I could chew." It laughed slowly annunciating every ha with the laugh "If you will have me warrior then I shall be by your side."

Dante looked at Dime who stood up still holding onto the demon's head. He nodded. The demon seemed content with the answer and the body of the demon flashed into a white light. Dante covered his eyes. He opened them to find that Dime had a long spear taller than he by at least a few inches, its body was completely red from the tip down with lacing that wrapped around the entirety of it. The spear itself had specks of black on random spots but it seemed to be expanding slowly. It had to been Dime's ability, whatever that may be, taking apart of it. He never seen a user began to integrate their power onto a devil quite like that before. It intrigued Dante, distracting him from what he was going to say. As he found the words, Dime spoke aloud

"Gáe Bulg." He said interestingly. He spun the spear in his hands, twirling it frantically creating a small gust of wind around his body. He jumped up and away from Dante and flipped to a position where he held the spear in a stabbing position. Gravity pulled back on him and he came down onto the earth driving the tip the spear into the ground where it split part of the street in two. It shook the earth causing cars from two or three blocks away to blear their car alarms "What a surprisingly old demon. He's been around for quite some time now but his power had diminished from not consuming."

"He stopped consuming." Dante said, still awestruck that Dime was carrying a devil arm in his hand "Doesn't seem smart of a demon to do."

"Perhaps." Dime spun the spear and it disappeared from his hand. His face took upon a clever amusement "So this is what a devil arm is. Quite amazing in honesty. I have its ability to strike into opponents and have it that stab wound to never close. I believe this will be a good weapon for me to use."

"All right, all right" Dante put his hands up and then poked at Dime chest "Who in the hell are you? You aren't a human, I suspected that much. You're not a demon from what I can tell and you aren't a half-devil."

Dime scratched his scalp with that searching glance onto the buildings, the broken street, the cars, and the soft sound of cop sirens. He had a 'oh boy' look that was hard to imitate before he finally surrendered "I suppose this would be better to explain over lunch. I'll explain everything there and then if you wish. I suppose this may change the likelihood of our contract." He nodded, satisfied with what he said "So, where would you like to eat?"

Dante looked testy, wanting to find a way for him to explain it here and now. The sirens from the police were steadily approaching and it would be difficult for two guys to explain to the general public of demons causing havoc to the neighboring blocks. Oh hello officer, no, we can't explain why there is a large split in the middle of the street, it's hard to say, I mean, there was a large Godzilla looking creature that had an Irish accent and had intended on killing me and this guy here. Dante saw that that conversation would go smoothly.

"As long as you're paying" Dante said finally, putting his hands in his jacket pocket.


End file.
